Ultimate Video Rumble 2 - The Destruction Continues
by TeamUVR
Summary: A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away... a group of students sat down and proceeded to write several stories, involving characters from several different fighting games (and a few others!). They invented the Multiverse, and a series of Dream Tournaments and even the first Ultimate Video Rumble took place.
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: I own no properties used within this story, including the story itself. Only persmission to archive it so future generations can enjoy a classic.**

**Outworld-Ruled Earth**

A scream parted the air. It was a human scream, a man, screaming for mercy as two mutants dragged him up to Motaro, Captain of the Centauran Guard.

"What did you see?"

"It wasn't me! I wasn't trying to escape! It was them! The Raiden followers! I came and told you immediately!"

Motaro cracked his knuckles once. "I didn't ask you that. What. Did. You. **See?**"

The man's eyes widened with Motaro's threat of violence. "There was seven or eight of em! A cop, a Native American, a couple of military types, this guy with a hat, Henry Rollins..."

"Who?"

"Henry Rollins. The singer. And then there was this weird-looking guy in kinda goggles, and some guy with a red headband..."

"RED HEADBAND? Was he Oriental in complexion?"

"Yeah! Yeah! He was!"

Motaro looked lost in thought. "Well, now we know what happened to Liu Kang. Shao Kahn will not be pleased."

"And there was this thing with four arms..."

"WHAT? Bring Sheeva to me immediately!" An underling galloped off. Motaro turned back to the human. "So, you can tell us nothing else?"

"That's it! I swear! I just wanna live!"

"Hmmmm. An understandable desire."

CRACK! The man dropped instantly.

"But not one I can grant."

* * *

**The _Grimdancer_**

Aboard the ship of Pyron, there was scheming.

"Hmmmm." muttered the lord of fire. "So it is true. The victor's soul becomes supercharged for one year..."

Huitzil stood in the corner, motionless, powered down.

"HUITZIL!"

With a grinding of gears, the robot came alive.

"We are going to attend the second Ultimate Video Rumble. There is something there... that I want."

* * *

**Thailand**

"So you say that this samurai, Haohmaru...his soul is now supercharged?"

Akuma nodded. "According to the scrolls, its energy could power countless spells. This world could be ours." _Or mine_, thought the warrior.

"Even though it hasn't happened yet?"

"For us, it has not happened yet. But, let us remember that we are talking about time travel here."

Bison laughed. "I have no doubt...Sagat! Birdie! Adon! Sodom! Come! We go to capture what is unrightfully ours!" *Or, rather, mine.* thought the dictator.

* * *

**Outworld-ruled Earth**

"**So...the last of our enemies have gone to the Ultimate Video Rumble. As a preparation for the final battles with us.**" Shao Kahn relaxed upon his throne. "**Excellent. We shall join them.**"

Sheeva, Captain of the Shotokan Brigade, spoke up. "Unwise. We might as well wait for them to return. Honor demands we fight here."

"Idiocy. We can dominate them anywhere we please."

"**Motaro is correct, Sheeva. At any rate, we have other reasons to go to the Rumble. Firstly, we must prove ourselves above all others. Secondly, was there not a Shotokan among the number of the fugitives?**"

Sheeva shook her head. "My company stands in full number. The captive was lying."

Motaro laughed scornfully. "Nobody lies to Motaro."

Sheeva glared at him. "As you said, idiocy."

Shao Kahn stood. "**Stop your petty bickering. We shall determine the truth of the matter at the Rumble. But there is one more reason to go.**"

Shang Tsung, who had been silent until this time, looked at his master. "And what is that, my Kahn?"

"**The samurai. Haohmaru. His soul, thanks to his victory at the Rumble, is now the most powerful soul in existence. If we can obtain it, we shall be able to muster the power to attack other worlds with blistering force. No one shall oppose us.**" He waved to his court. "**Sindel, Shang Tsung...prepare the portal. Kano, prepare a complement of weapons for the Centauran Guard. Sheeva, choose a Shotokan to command the Brigade while you are gone.**"

Sheeva looked upset. "But master! We must be there in full force! Honor demands no less!"

"**Honor's demands are insignificant compared to mine own. The Centaurans have proven themselves in the Earth invasion, while your Shotokans have obsessed themselves with honor. They shall be my honor guard. They have earned the right.**"

Sheeva sullenly complied, and strode off. Kano walked with her a ways.

"So, His Bastardness toldya something you dinnit like?"

"Kano, even for a human you smell. Remove yourself from my presence immediately."

"Oh, come on! You don't really like working for Shao Kahn, do ya?"

"He is my master. It is an honor to serve."

"Like Goro?"

"Goro died honorably in the line of battle. There is no higher accomplishment."

"And what about Kintaro?"

Sheeva suddenly grabbed Kano and thrust him against the stone wall. "Do not speak the traitor's name. He sided with Liu Kang and Raiden! He deserved the death Shao Kahn gave him!"

"I heard...him talking with Kung Lao before the last few matches in the Outworld, Sheeva. Apparently, he'd decided it was a matter of honor for him ta fight Shao Kahn. Odd, innit?"

Sheeva dropped Kano forcibly to the ground. "I shall walk away now. Do not follow me."

Kano looked as Sheeva stormed off. Suddenly, he turned around. Had he seen...no. It couldn't have been.

The flicker that Kano had seen, but had not seen, suddenly moved away.

* * *

**Rugal's Palace**

"Supercharged, you say?"

"Very much so."

"How wonderfully odd." Rugal stretched back. "And you propose an alliance to garner this...spirit?"

Number 27, head of the biotechnology corporation that sponsored the Killer Instinct tourney, nodded. "There is more than enough power for the both of us to share equally."

"I rather doubt that. But I'm not in this for power anyway, so why not?" A slight ting! was heard as Rugal picked up his wineglass with his metal hand. "I can easily convince all the fighters from the KOF tourney to go. And possibly I can get them to work for me. Some of them, anyway...and the ones I can't, will travel there just to stop me."

"Likewise, I can get the Killer Instinct participants to enter. They signed. I basically own them now."

"Well then." Rugal stood. "It appears we have an agreement."

"Yes. We do."

Rugal smiled, and shook hands with Number 27. _Fool. You should pay attention to my words._

* * *

**Long Dojo, Japan**

Ryu stared at the paper in confusion. "I don't get it. It keeps saying "again" but we've never been to this tourney."

Guy shrugged. "It's hardly important. We'll just go."

Ken rose up. "But look! They said, 'to get there, press this button!' What's up with that? Is it like a walkie-talkie or something?"

Ryu shook his head. "Don't touch it until tomorrow night. It said we can't summon our ride until we get there."

"What about Chun Li? Her name's on this too."

"So we'll invite her along, Guy." Ken smiled.

"We hardly know her! She just arrived here yesterday from China!"

"Well, _I'll_ certainly know her by the end of the tourney..."

* * *

**Westchester Mansion**

"Oh, come on! We did security work there last year!" Iceman pleaded.

"He's gotta point, bub. Besides, we're gettin' rusty ever since that chip exploded. Hank's gonna be weeks getting the Danger Room back up and runnin'."

Cyclops looked at Wolverine. "But MAGNETO will be there."

Colossus nodded. "All the more reason we should be there, tovarisch."

Cyclops looked around. "Okay. I give up."

* * *

**Outworld-ruled Earth**

Two robotic cyborgs stood motionless at the top of a cliff.

No motions. No movements. Robots don't generally pace.

Suddenly, a third cyborg appeared out of nowhere. "LK-46 disengaging cloaking unit."

"LK-46, report." This from the red one.

"Target: Sub-Zero. Reported headed to event referred to as "Ultimate Video Rumble Two." Event is a competitive fighting tourney."

"Method of transport?" The yellow one.

"Advanced dimensional vortex device." The grey cyborg pulled something out of a side hatch. "Recommend further study after usage."

"Noted, LK-46. Method of usage?" Red.

"Exert pressure on point A" (a small spotlight highlighted it) "and remain motionless. Vortex will enact transport."

"Noted. Operate device."

* * *

**Thailand**

"So Bison left the country. Well, this is just great."

The blond man took a sip of his coffee. "Don't worry, Rose. We'll find him."

"Dammit, Charlie! How can you be so calm?"

"Simple. Because I know a) We're gonna get him, and b) a contact should be meeting us here any minute with the necessary knowledge for us to find him and nail him."

Rose slapped him on the shoulder. "Why don't you tell me these things in advance?"

"What, and ruin the surprise?"

A young blond man walked up. "Excuse me...'Guile', is it?"

"That's my codename. Who are you?"

"I'm your contact, 'Garcia'."

"What's yer handle?"

"Ten-four and all's clear."

Rose looked at them. "WHAT are you talking about?"

"Just some simple verifications. Okay, kid, you got what we need?"

"Yep. Apparently, all we have to do is press this button in about twenty minutes."

"Waitaminit. What's this _we_ business?"

"I'm coming too. Bison killed my father! I have a right!"

Charlie grimaced. "All right. BUT: you screw up and I kill you."

The young man grinned. "Wouldn't expect it any other way. I'm Dan."

"Charlie. The lady is Rose. We'll probably exchange last names sometime in the next century when we have time."

* * *

**Professor Tym's TymCart**

"Everybody strapped in?"

"How did you get it so roomy this time, Professor?" called out Erick.

"Pocket dimensions! It's probably better if you don't know!"

* * *

**RumbleDome**

"BRANT!"

The bespectacled techie looked up. "What?"

"Why. Are. The. Time. Killers. Returning?"

"Hey, they signed up. And after Rancid's showing last year..."

"But then they decided to throw a party! They totalled half the Dome!"

"Oh, it's easy enough to fix."

Birdman sighed. "I can't take this any more..."

"Hey, you gave Videonews the contract to help with publicity! That should take off your workload some!"

"I don't know this Loomis guy from Adam! That just makes me worry more! And Boobwod's sick! We need a new security head!"

"We'll find somebody! Relax!"

* * *

**A dusty road in 17th Century Japan**

"HA! SO, ONCE AGAIN WE HAVE GATHERED TOGETHER TO FIGHT FOR JUSTICE, HONOR, AND GLORY! HOWEVER, IT SHOULD BE NOTED THAT ONLY ONE SHALL BE VICTORIOUS! AND THAT ONE SHALL BE I, HAOHMARU, FOR ONLY A LEGEND SHALL TAKE THE GOLDEN TROPHY A SECOND YEAR! FOR MINE IS THE WARRIOR'S WAY, THE NOMAD'S WAY, THE COWBOY WAY..."

"SHUT UP!" chorused everyone else.

"AM I PERHAPS MAKING YOU FEEL SMALL? I MUST APOLOGIZE, THEN! FOR, AFTER ALL, IT HAS BEEN A HARD YEAR...OSHIZU HAD THAT FIGHT WITH HER PARENTS, MASTER NICOTINE HAD THAT BACK PROBLEM..."

"It was nothing major, Haohmaru! I didn't need to go to that monastary!"

Haohmaru continued, oblivious. "...AND FOR SOME REASON ALL THESE DEMONS KEEP POPPING UP AND SCREAMING SOMETHING ABOUT MY SOUL AND ETERNAL POWER. OF COURSE, I DEFEAT THEM ALL, BUT IT IS RATHER TIRING TO KEEP KILLING THEM IN SO MANY WAYS!"

Suddenly, the TymCart appeared out of nowhere. Professor Tym stuck his head out the window. "Come on, already! I've only got about forty fighters in here, and I've gotta get some Darkstalkers next!"

It was a bright sunny day at the Rumbledome, now holding 180,000 screaming, cheering fans. The Primal Rage Zoo was still holding court, drawing lots of little kids. (Blizzard, in particular, was enjoying himself immensely with the wee ones.) The Power Instinct bunch were in hiding from the Bloodstormers, who were hunting them again.

Of course, this being the Rumble, far more was happening.

* * *

**Birdman's Office**

"You see this footage?"

Birdman clicked on the TV. His new chief of security, Scott Johnson, was watching impassively.

"Look at this. I had to scramble to get this cut out of the videotapes last year. First, of course, the footage of the mutants and Shadoloo troopers running amuck in the basements..."

"Is that SIX troopers in Colossus' arms?"

"Looks it. But that's not the worst." Birdman flicked a button. "Look at this. The brawl that broke out in the Eliminated seats. Over two hundred fighters running amuck. Boobwod, our previous chief, couldn't handle it due to the problems downstairs. So..."

Scott retched. "Oh god."

"Yup. Charlotte thought little Yoshi there was Reptile, and skewered the poor little fella. You should have seen the litigation Princess Toadstool raised. I didn't even know the Mushroom Kingdom had lawyers..."

"And...oh man, Scorpion's gonna Toasty Erick...geez! He missed! And he hit...are those the players from NBA Jam?"

"A good number of them. They didn't even bother to put it out, because they were so excited to be on fire..." Birdman clicked the TV off. "Anyway. This is your job, Chief. I do NOT want this happening again."

"Done."

"Watch out for Shao Kahn particularly. The scumbag always tries something."

* * *

**Room 245, RumbleDome Hotel**

Morrigan tossed her hair. "_Why_ did you call us here, Pyron?"

Pyron stared at her. "You and Lord Raptor have demonic masters. They owe me favors. I have called them in. For the duration of this tourney, you serve me."

"To what end?"

"To MY end. I want Haohmaru, the samurai. I require him, preferably alive. Before Shao Kahn or Bison or another gets him."

Demitri stared at him. "I have no master. Whyever should _I_ serve you?"

"Power."

Demitri smiled. "You certainly know me."

Lord Raptor grinned. (Of course, he didn't really have a choice, the way his face was.) "So, who's the babe-a-mint with the fuzzy wonder, flame-boy?"

"I am Mizuki, impetuous one. I have formed an alliance with Mighty Pyron that we may both benefit."

"And who's Mr. Downcast, then?" Lord Raptor bounced over to the sullen figure.

"This is Neo-Dio. He was willing to sell his soul to get back in the action." She smiled. "Weren't you, dear?"

* * *

**Room 345, RumbleDome Hotel**

"I knew it! I knew it! That scummy bloodsucker and his pals aren't up to any good!" Jon Talbain started pacing across the room, his ears up off the floor.

"What is the problem, Jon?" Bishamon sat in serene silence. Duct-tape covered various bits of his armor.

"Demitri and Morri-bitch and that undead weasel Raptor are all working for Pyron! They wanna get that Haohmaru."

"Haohmaru?" Bishamon grimaced. "Much as I hate to admit it, I seriously doubt whether there is ANYONE who can defeat him."

"And I also heard that Mizuki talking. She's in with them on this."

"Interesting. Why would Haohmaru be valuable?"

"Dunno. But, we'd better watch out for 'im. Pyron said that others were after him too."

"Should we warn him?"

"How can we? He's sequestered. We all are. That's kind of the point of these dressing rooms."

Bishamon sighed. "I guess I have no choice, then." He peeled off one piece of duct-tape off his armor. A tiny blue flame shot out of it instantly, and floated in front of the undead samurai.

"HAH! YOU GOT SOME NERVE! I MEAN, SEALING ME UP LIKE THAT!"

"Shut up."

The flame was subdued.

"Now. I need you to find Haohmaru, from the Samurai Shodown, and tell him that his life is in danger. Do this now."

"Yes SIR! Right away, SIR!" The flame sped off. "WhateverhisbloodyRoyalMajestywishesSIR!

The flame shot out into the middle of the hallway and sped down it. All of a sudden, it saw a candle in an empty room.

"WHOA! Hubba hubba! Hey, baby, how 'bout I come over there and we expend some oxygen, you know what I'm saying..." Suddenly the flame remembered what it was supposed to be doing. "DAMNDAMNDAMN! I gotta get the message QUICK! Who can I tell..." It saw a busboy moving past.

"HEY! Yeah, you! Do me a favor? Great! Go tell Haohmaru that Bishamon says his life is in danger! Okay? Thanks!" With that, the flame sped into the room with all due haste.

"Ummmmm...okay." said the busboy.

* * *

**Room 820, RumbleDome Hotel**

"So, then. We are agreed?"

Iori Nagumi nodded. "You're buying myself and my compatriots' services. Perfectly fair."

Rugal nodded. "Very good. And you two?" He stared at Chang Koehan and Choi Bounge.

Chang spoke first. "Well, we thought it over. And this is it. We like the money, and we'll work for you, but we aren't touching Kim no matter what. He's a good guy, maybe a bit uvva yutz at times, but I'm not gonna hurt him. Neither is Choi."

Rugal smiled. "Perfectly understandable. And agreed." He turned to face Number 27. "And yours?"

"I've informed them all. They all saw no reason not to accept bonuses for a little extra work..."

* * *

**Rooms 730-734, RumbleDome Hotel**

A busboy wandered in and saw something of incredible proportions. About ten fighters, from various different nodes, were busily stretching out kinks, meditating, and generally preparing for the Rumble.

"Ummmm...dang, I can't remember the name...Oh, yeah, Haohmaru, Bishamon says your life is in danger and here are your towels." The busboy dumped a load of towels from his cart and wandered off.

Captain Kidd's eyes shot up from where he had been applying the body oil. "What? Ha! He just said Haohmaru's life was in danger!"

Jubei Yagyu grinned at the sharpening stone where he was finishing work on his daisho. "Of course it is. Everybody's after him, after what he did last year."

Kung Lao returned the grin as he did situps. "And notice who sent the message. Bishamon. The guy who was runner up. Looks like someone has a grudge."

Guy and Takuma Sakazaki sat in contemplation, oblivous to the world. Heavy D!, who had managed to get into the Rumble for reasons unknown, was busy at a punching bag. Rose was busily trying to contact Charlie on her cell-phone with no success, and Sie Kensou was looking on at her, completely ignoring everything else, and trying not to grin goofily. Iceman was fixing himself a nice hot chocolate, Wolf Hawkfield was practicing howls on the balcony outside, and the ninja, Jago, was shadow-fighting with the sun shining behind him. Bishamon's message was apparently in vain.

"IDIOTS!"

The horrendous shout startled everybody. As one, they turned to the doorway from which it had came. A figure stood there, cloaked in shadow. The only distinguishing feature was a single gleaming red eye.

"You don't understand, do you? When Haohmaru won the Rumble last year, a freak nodal anomaly supercharged his soul! The power to gained from it is immense! If he lives free, it will dissipate after tonight's Rumble. If he is captured, or killed and then captured, whoever gets it will be more powerful than the ruler of a dozen nodes! It could be the end of all your worlds!"

Wolf stood. "So we have to protect the loudmouth?"

"As best you can."

Jago stood, troubled. "But...I have signed an agreement. Number 27 wished Haohmaru dead as well. We all agreed, as honor demanded. I cannot protect him!"

"Do you have a family, Jago?" The figure looked concerned.

"Two sisters and an uncle, yes."

"You won't if Number 27 gets that soul. Quit whining and be a hero."

Jago lowered his head. When it arose again, a new fervor was in his eyes.

"So, it's us, and Bishamon, and of course Haohmaru, against basically everybody else? I DON'T like these odds..." muttered Rose.

Kung Lao stood. "Hardly. The other Earth warriors from my node will quite happily fight with me. I imagine we all have a couple of allies we can turn to..."

"But we can't contact them before the Rumble!" grumbled Wolf, "We're basically alone."

Captain Kidd summed it up best. "Oh, _crap_."

Jubei turned to the shadow again. "How can..."

But the figure was gone.

Kung Lao was thoughtful. "One red eye. Hmmmmmm. Sounds awfully familiar. What does Kano stand to gain from this?"

* * *

**Elsewhere in the RumbleDome**

The figure that had been cloaked in shadows stopped. It would have to do. His hopes were all on those few, and the ones they could manage to join them.

And, of course, himself.

* * *

_Original Authors_

Chris "Birdman" Bird  
Brant Rogers  
Scott Johnson  
Austin Loomis


	2. Section 1

**Section One  
**

The arena had fallen quiet. Howard Finkel, ported in from the old WWF WrestleFest node, was announcing the usual two-minutes-of-rules speech he had perfected years ago. However, something was still missing. The Fink had not forgotten it.

"Now, you may have remembered the acid pool used at last year's Ultimate Video Rumble! Well, due to technical difficulties-"

(Up in the control tower, Birdman mumbled "Like Shao Kahn...")

"-a NEW elimination array has been added! Now, whenever a fighter is eliminated, he or she will be instantly transported to a randomly selected node, where they will be given fifteen seconds to survive! Should they manage that, they will be returned to the Elminated Section! If they fail, they will be humiliated in front of thousands as they die gruesomely before your very eyes!"

Suddenly, a white field began flickering around the ring. The Fink nodded.

"As you know, once they go over these electrical field "ropes", they're gone! So, without further ado, let us now introduce the fighter who drew NUMBER ONE!"

The crowd hushed even further. The silence they left was suddenly broken by a cheerful, bopping theme, almost playful.

* * *

**"SASQUATCH!" **(Darkstalkers 2)

The roly-poly fighter, fresh from his pre-ring interview, strolled down to the ring, up over the telekinetic gangplank, and into the ring, where he began flicking his fingers in preparation.

"And now...the fighter who drew number TWO..."

Sasquatch's theme faded, to be replaced by the old theme music used by Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat during the early Eighties.

* * *

**"ANDY BOGARD!"** (King of Fighters '95)

Andy ran down to the ring, preparing himself mentally. The preparations consisted mainly of "I don't wanna die, I don't wanna die, I don't wanna die..."

* * *

**"SPIRAL!"** (X-Men: Children Of The Atom)

Up in the control tower, Birdman turned to Brant. "You know, it may not have been such a good idea to invite the X-Men contigent, Brant. I mean, with their field attacks and super jumps, they could really dominate."

Brant shook his head. "The field attacks take way too much time and the super jumps leave them way open. Plus, you'd have to be really stupid to super-jump in THAT ring. It's not big enough..." Brant trailed off as Spiral super-jumped into the air. "Okay, so maybe I was..." He trailed off again as Spiral came down into Andy Bogard's Ishoken and was knocked backwards into Sasquatch's Big Spinning Foot.

"Right. I was right."

* * *

**"EYEDOL!"** (Killer Instinct)

Birdman turned on his commentary mike. "And that's Eyedol, the super-killer-cyborg with a really big grudge against everybody in the world. You know, I can't help but wonder why he hates everybody so much."

Down at ringside, Eyedol was pounding on Andy Bogard. "S-s-s-s-stop m-m-making f-f-f-f-un of m-my s-s-s-stutter! It's a p-p-p-perfectly r-r-reasonable speech p-p-p-problem! I'm t-t-taking cl-cl-classes for it!"

Andy didn't respond, dazed as he was.

* * *

**"RALF!"** (King of Fighters '95)

Ralf ran down to the ring as fast as he could, the background music of "In the Navy" playing behind him (yes, he had requested "The Battle Hymn Of The Republic" but they didn't have that, now, did they? Of COURSE not. Why would ANYONE make life easy for poor old Ralf? If things didn't shape up soon, he might just go on up to that water tower with that high-powered rifle...).

* * *

**"WAN-FU!"** (Samurai Showdown 2)

Birdman's exceedingly late commentary partner, Big Bear from FFS, had finally arrived. "Sorry. I couldn't quite fit through all the doors..."

Birdman nodded. "Well, you're here now. So, what's your opinion on the mighty Wan-Fu?"

"Well, Wan-Fu's pillar is, without a doubt, the biggest phallic object I've ever seen. Freud would have a field day with this guy: I mean, the pillar, he wears a skirt and anklets-anklets! I can't believe it- not to mention he's got that wierd ponytail. I may be a bit premature, but I think Wan-Fu has a bit of a Bo Derek obsession. I mean, when she was in "10" and had cornrows."

Birdman was just staring at Big Bear. "How do you know all this?"

Big Bear pulled a small book out of one huge pocket, and a tiny pair of spectacles with the other. "Oh, ever since the Dream Tournament a while back, I've been catching up on my reading..."

* * *

**"SINDEL!"** (Mortal Kombat 3)

The warrior queen floated imperiously down to ringside, casting gazes right and left. She looked like a praying mantis, ready to take part in a simile.

Actually, Sindel's brain had been fried by Shao Kahn, and now she was hard-pressed to add two and two.

* * *

**"KYO KUSANAGI!"** (King of Fighters '95)

Kyo stopped halfway to ringside and stared at his palms for a minute. Suddenly, the strange sparking energy he fought with crackled between his hands.

_You cannot resist, Kyo. As all those who touch the Source do, you shall inevitably bend to the ways of evil._

Kyo muttered. "No. I'm not gonna turn. I'll be the first to defeat the temptation of the Source! Then, I'll be able to save my father, and the souls of my ancestors, and...NYAH HAH HAH...I'll be supreme and..." Kyo trailed off as he recognized his words. "Omigod..."

* * *

**"ASAYAMIYA ATHENA!"** (King of Fighters '95)

The perky Chinese heroine skipped down to the ring, almost dancing with glee. "Yee hee hee! I get to fight a whole lot of people again and I love fighting people 'cause I'm one of the good guys and good guys ALWAYS win and..." She checked her watch. "Whoops! I almost forgot to take my governmentally-approved prescription medicine! We can't have that..." She reached into one pocket and pulled out three jars. "Okay...let's see. Three of the green, two of the purple, and four of the orange..." She grabbed all the pills in one hand, and pulled out a bottle of water, with which she downed the lot. "Thank goodness for my loving government! Without these pills, I could lose control of my powerful psychic abilities and why is the pink elephant staring at me, why, why, why? Whoops, time to go kill the toasters..." She jumped into the ring and Phoenix Arrowed Wan-Fu for eight hits in the back.

Meanwhile, in the back room, Sie Kensou was groaning in disbelief. "Damn! She took her pills!"

Iceman stared at him. "So you can't reach her telepathically?"

"Right now, your Xavier couldn't reach HER telepathically..."

* * *

**"PSYLOCKE!"** (X-Men: Children Of The Atom)

The British-minded, Asian-appearing, body-switching, generally deadly female ninja with purple hair super-jumped into the ring, landing neatly on her toes in a crouch, ready for battle.

She was suddenly besieged by Ralf. "Oh, wow! Cool! Psylocke! Um, can you autograph this comic for me...?"

* * *

**"SODOM!"** (Street Fighter Alpha)

"Sodom. His mask is his shield, his protection against the dark ravages of the soul. No one can truly hurt him, he thinks, for the mask will forever hide his shame, his degradation, his humiliation at being beaten. But, the mask also hides his joy, his success, his happiness. Is it worth giving up one to avoid the other? Only the ancients can tell us this."

Birdman just stared at Big Bear, jaw gaping.

* * *

**"MUSASHI!"** (Time Killers)

Twin blades extended, the samurai ran down as fast as he could. He knew. The Time of the Samurai was returning. The performances of the Samurai Shodown node, and Bishamon, last year proved it. The scrolls he had bought off of Rancid had been correct, even if they *were* written in red crayon...

* * *

**"CHARLOTTE!"** (Samurai Showdown 2)

Her hair cropped short, Charlotte slowly strode down to the ring. This was it. Her final chance. If she could not win Haohmaru's love by proving herself as his equal, by winning the second Ultimate Video Rumble, then there would be no hope for her, none at all.

* * *

**"SONYA!"** (Mortal Kombat 3)

With ZZ Top's "Legs" roaring in the background, the Marine ran down to ringside. The plan was working. Draw the Outworlders here, then kill them, one by one...for what they had done to Earth.

And, of course, the impressive prize didn't hurt either.

* * *

**"AKIRA YUKI!"** (Virtua Fighter 2)

Akira strode down smoothly to the ring. The strange, jerky sensations that had plagued him at last year's Rumble were gone. There was only peace, and gentle smoothness, and the crisp, clean fighting that awaited within the ring.

Of course, the moment he entered he got slammed by no less than four projectiles from Sindel, Athena, Andy Bogard, and Kyo Kusanagi.

* * *

**"GALFORD!"** (Samurai Showdown 2)

"Come on, Poppy!"

"ARF!"

"What's that, Poppy? You say little Timmy is trapped in the gorge?"

"ARF!"

"Awwww. But we only saved him from the gorge last week! Can't the little guy learn from his mistakes?"

"ARF!"

"Well, yeah, I guess you have a point there, Poppy. I guess Shakespeare DID say it best..."

"ARF!"

"But...look, is Timmy in any immediate danger?"

"ARF!"

Galford smiled. "Well, then! We'll just save him afterwards! Maybe we'll bring Nak along..." His smile grew dreamy.

Poppy coughed up a hairball in response.

* * *

**"JANNE!"** (World Heroes Perfect)

"One of the toughest customers in the World Heroes node, Janne is looking to improve upon her node's poor status from last year. Comments, Big Bear?"

"I must admit that I fail to understand why some female fighters fight in such male-oriented styles. Particularly Janne, who fights with a broadsword-a weapon suited to exceedingly strong muscular power, not finesse. Now, a rapier like Charlotte's would allow Janne to capitalize on her speed even more..."

Birdman groaned again.

* * *

**"LORD RAPTOR!"** (Darkstalkers 2)

The ghoul staggered forward. "Oooooh, Haohmaru? Where are you, you most radical purveyor of swordsmanly death? Yer Unca Raptor wants ta...shake hands with ya..."

* * *

**"MUSCLE POWER!"** (World Heroes Perfect)

"I'm NUMMMMMBAH ONE!" yelled Muscle Power.

Brian Battler yelled back from the stands. "NO! _I'm_ NUMMMMBAHHHH ONE!"

"Oh yeah? Then how come your team was the only one that didn't return to the King of Fighters tourney? Huh?

Brian couldn't come up with a response, so he adlibbed. "At least I don't look like Lardass Hogan!" he jeered.

The crowd was overwhelmingly on Brian's side all of a sudden.

and, the final fighter of this section:

* * *

**"RYO SAKAZAKI!"** (King of Fighters '95)

Ryo strode down to the tune of "School's Out" by Alice Cooper. He had chosen it specifically to irritate his father, the powerful Takuma Sakazaki. Takuma had been harping lately that Ryo "should settle down, and find a nice girl to go out with." Takuma kept pointing out that Robert and Yuri were very very happy. Takuma was putting personal ads in the Southtown Times on Ryo's behalf.

The most irritating thing about it all, Ryo reflected, was that his father was actually right for once, Ryo *was* lonely. He just wasn't very good with women, that's all. He never had been.

However, Ryo was dauntless in his attempts to get somewhere in his romantic life. Well. Not exactly "dauntless". Maybe "daunted". He noted all this as he noticed the _very_-good-looking Athena Psycho Uppercutting a weary-looking Ralf.

He strode over. "Um, Athena, I know we don't know each other well..." He paused to Hohken Wan-Fu, who had been trying to sneak up behind him, "but I was wondering, after the Rumble would you like to maybe, um, go get a coffee or something?"

"Oh, sure!" Athena smiled.

_YESYESYESYESYES!_ Ryo thought.

"But let me check with Master Chin, because I don't know if I'm allowed to go out with giant orange winged frogs. That's really the only reason I'm intrigued by you. If you were just another fighter, like, say, that Ryo Sakazaki guy, you'd have no chance...he's just so dull, y'know?"

Ryo bowed his head briefly. "On second thought, forget it." He ran off to go take out his frustrations om Kyo Kusanagi.

"Okay." She waved. "Bye bye, froggie!"

WHO WILL LIVE?  
WHO WILL DIE?  
WHICH OF THESE PLOT POINTS WILL BECOME A RUNNING GAG?

* * *

_Original Authors_

Chris "Birdman" Bird  
Brant Rogers  
Scott Johnson  
Austin Loomis


	3. Section 1 - Results

**Section One - Results**

Brant walked in to see Birdman, away from the mike (where Big Bear was calmly commenting on the match in triplets of haiku), shuffling through papers and looking worried.

"What's up?"

"What's up? Lemme see. Kuroko called me...said he'd changed his mind, and wanted to be in the tournament after all. That means we have to bump ANOTHER of the mystery slots, which would knock us down to two after Neo-Dio showed up."

"Anything else?"

"Oh, there's more... Gokuu, from World Heroes Perfect, showed up. Apparently Proferssor Tym left him behind."

"Tym? Why'd he forget?"

"I think it was on purpose. I wanted to strangle Gokuu the moment he opened his mouth. What a git..."

"Well, that's another mystery slot gone..."

"Which knocks us down to ONE. Not good."

"Any other bad news?"

"Well, Sawada's filing a class-action suit against us for keeping him out of the Rumble... that's gonna suck..."

"Ack."

"Oh, and some fighters from the Tekken node showed up, uninvited, and asked that they be allowed to prove themselves."

"All of them?"

"No, just a few...but that still takes us over 150. WAY over."

Brant mused for a moment. "Okay. Here's what we do. Restore ALL the mystery slots, which brings us up to 153. I can find another mystery fighter, so that'll get us to 154. How many Tekken fighters are there?"

"Five. Yoshimitsu, Marshall Law, Baek, Lei Wulong, and Michelle Power."

"Okay. So that's 159. Can you find one more mystery fighter?"

"Easy...that gets us to 160." Birdman smiled.

"160...a nice, round number that rolls off the tongue, and'll look good on the video boxes and posters, and we only have to change one digit."

"Good. But this is IT, Brant. No more inflation. I don't care if Scorpion arrives late, he ain't getting into the Rumble. Period."

Birdman turned back to the mike, and blinked. "Ouch! Sasquatch is simply getting nailed by Spiral with those blades, ain't he, folks?"

During the time Birdman had been away from the mike, all the fighters up to Ralf had entered the ring. Spiral was tussling with Sasquatch, and Eyedol was happily beating the crap out of both Andy Bogard and Ralf with his club. "Y-y-yeah! Take th-that! And th-th-that!" Andy and Ralf groaned in response.

Suddenly, Wan-Fu jumped into the ring, and pointed at Eyedol. "YOU!" yelled the giant king of China.

Eyedol turned one head to stare at Wan-Fu. "One s-s-sec..." He noticed Andy crawling away quietly, and quickly spat three fireballs at him. Andy was knocked into the opposite set of "ropes" and rebounded off, landing in the middle of the ring, a smoking heap of pain and suffering.

Eyedol charged Wan-Fu, who stood his ground, holding the mighty Pillar of Pain over his shoulder and beckoning with one free hand. Eyedol's first swing with the club connected solidly with the Pillar. Both fighters staggered back a bit from the force of the exchange, then stared at one another with hatred in their eyes and charged again. Eyedol swung at Wan-Fu once more, but this time the powerful King of China rolled beneath the swing and came up with his famed Pillar Uppercut, summoning flames around the Pillar with ease. Eyedol staggered back again, but quickly regained his strength and spat a pair of fireballs at Wan-Fu, who, coming down from the uppercut, was an easy target. The King of China fell down, but was back up on his feet in one second, only a little the worse for wear.

While the ongoing clash of the titans was taking place, a newly arrived Sindel was screaming at Ralf and Sasquatch, stunning them. She quickly ran forward and comboed the hell out of Sasquatch while Spiral took advantage of the lull to slam Ralf with half-a-dozen punches.

Wan-Fu and Eyedol were now hammering at one another, each parrying the other's blows. The entire ring was shaking. As Kyo Kusanagi entered the fray, he was actually knocked off his feet by the forceful attacks. He rose slowly, adjusting himself to the shaking, and quickly summoned some of his elemental fire to his fingertips, sending it towards a dazed-looking Sindel (who, in fact, hadn't been attacked, but was actually just distracted by a fly whizzing overhead). Shao Kahn's queen fell down in crackling flames.

Spiral turned to see Athena jumping into the ring, and Phoenix Arrowing Wan-Fu for eight hits in the back. However, the mighty King was so focused on beating up Eyedol that he paid no attention to the female member of Team China.

Athena looked confused. "But it always worked before...I don't get it...it should work. Especially on a walking jelly doughnut."

Spiral charged herself up and ran towards Athena, preparing to do her deadly Morphing Madness on the young girl. However, Athena stopped examining Wan-Fu for the moment and noticed Spiral running at her. "Ha! I can beat you! You only have two arms! And they're purple!" Athena launched herself in the air, lunging at the Mojoworlder.

Spiral also jumped up, knowing that the Madness was more effective in midair. However, as Athena was extending a thrusting kick at the six-armed mage, Spiral performed a Teleport Switch and appeared behind her, planning to pull the Madness on her back. However, Athena, with lightning quick reflexes, instantly turned her thrusting kick into a backwards-facing Psycho Uppercut, which knocked Spiral for a loop.

Psylocke, who had entered while the midair drama was taking place, left her beating up of Sasquatch for a moment and turned to the very-beat-up-looking Andy Bogard. The very very sore Fighting King was staggering to his feet, looking like hell. Psylocke, wondering what Warren would want to do tonight, quickly knocked the Bogard boy back down with a triple PsiBlade. Andy wondered if Mai would want to nurse his wounds tonight.

Meanwhile, the powerful Sodom was calmly taking Ralf's last few defenses apart like so much rainwater. Using his swordbreakers, the Alpha Streeter ripped into Ralf over and over again, finally just walking forward and throwing Ralf over the ropes.

Ralf fell through the dimensional vortex, and landed on hard concrete. Rubbing his wounds, he slowly stood up, and wondered where he was...

The audience laughed as two Formula One racecars knocked Ralf over and slammed him into the stands. However, it should be noted that Ralf's death did cause a forty-three-car-pileup, and ended the race. Robby Gordon himself was later quoted as saying "Where the hell did that shmuck come from, anyway?"

Birdman winced sympathetically. "Don't worry, folks, he'll be back, good as new, in about fifteen minutes."

Musashi, a new entry, was now hacking at Sodom's back as powerfully as he could...Sodom staggered, but then turned. Musashi drew back, suddenly worried.

In a voice not unlike that of James Earl Jones, Sodom spoke. "Who are you, foolish fighter?"

"I am Musashi, of the Time Killers."

"Good." With that, Sodom slammed Musashi over to the side of the ring with a roundhoes kick. The daisho Musashi carried began to fry him like a fish on a skillet, or more accurately a fish on a 100,000 volt wire.

Sindel, bored with the combat, had begun to fly above the fighting. Occasionally, she would say "Whee..." in a quiet, bored voice.

Charlotte, with her new, vaguely-reminscent-of-the-girl-from-Roxette hairstyle, entered the ring, and saw the bedraggled Andy Bogard staggering one last time to his feet. She ran over. "Are you hurt, sir?"

"HURT? HURT? What do you think, lady? I'm in PAIN."

"Well then. I shall have to end it." Charlotte then Splash Founted the hapless Fighting King for repeated hits, knocking him over the ropes. Andy fell through the dimensional portal and landed on dirt. A small light was nearby, flashing the message "STOP." As Andy got up, it changed to "GO" and a huge imposing figure that Andy had thought a statue started moving forth. Andy started slamming the figure with Ishokens, but to no avail...he was crushed between the figure and a wall.

Birdman blinked. "Well, it appears Donkey Kong Country isn't very friendly to Bogards."

At the same time, Sindel, still floating above, carefree, was suddenly interrupted by Kyo Kusanagi, kicking her repeatedly in the middle of the air. Her concentration disturbed, the Mortal Kombatant was knocked down, her altitude allowing her to pass over the ropes and through a field.

She landed in Zangief's typical fighting locale in SF2, with people all around drinking vodka and laughing. Zangief himself was not in attendance, as he was busy wrestling a bear for old times' sake, but there was still a party going on. A fat jolly fellow ran over, and thrust a mugful of vodka (yes, a *mugful*) into Sindel's hand. Sindel looked quizzically at the drink, but then sniffed it and began drinking it.

Meanwhile, the Wan-Fu/Eyedol duel had not cooled down. Both fighters were continuing to pummel one another with everything they had (and then some). Blow was matched with blow, kick with kick, fireballs with Rotating Pillar Smashes. Sonya, newly entered, gave the battlers a wide berth as she took after Sodom.

The fresh Akira Yuki was now advancing cautiously towards a dazed Sasquatch. Seeing his chance, the Virtual Fighter delivered a thunderous uppercut to the northern beast, which knocked Sasquatch over the ropes, through the field, and right on top of Grandmother's house in Smurf Village. Several Smurfs ran over and said things involving the word "smurf".

Suddenly, to a humongous cheer, Galford entered the ring. Noticing that Spiral was chasing the weaponless Musashi (for Sodom has snapped his daisho apart) around the ring, he stood in front of her. She came to a stop.

"Get outta my way!"

"I'm sorry, but you aren't being fair!"

"Oh yeah?"

With that, Spiral jumped OUT of the ring and over the ropes, and pulled a Teleport Switch on Galford. Galford, suddenly seeing himself falling to his doom, quickly teleported himself away...and only a log fell through the field. The log landed on Richard Meyer back in the Fatal Fury node. He suffered a minor concussion.

Spiral paused to wonder where Galford had gone...then suddenly his ninja-to was buried in her back, driving her to the mat in pain. Galford then withdrew the sword, only to powerfully slash Spiral in two. He grabbed the halves of Spiral's quivering body and tossed them over the ropes. They landed on Richard Meyer as well. He suffered a major laundry bill.

Psylocke then dashed up behind Galford, planning to combo him into submission, but the ever-alert Poppy was ready, and rushed the purple-clad nimbo. Psylocke was suddenly concerned with eighty pounds of very angry Poppy. Galford turned, and used Psylocke's trouble to catch his breath, then slashed her across the stomach as Poppy jumped off. The massive-damage slash dropped Psylocke, and when she staggered up Galford caught her in a head-scissors and vaulted her over the ropes. Psylocke landed on the observation deck of the Eiffel Tower. Standing up, she remarked, "Well, it could be worse..." Suddenly, the tower began to sprout arms and legs. Betsy Braddock wondered what exactly was going on... until Spanky the dolphin, one of the French pilots in Aero Fighters 3, blew up the animated landmark.

The newly entered Janne was busily slashing Musashi apart. Even without his daisho, he still attempted to attack with them. This usually resulted in his holding out his hands in foolish ways. With a final upwards slash, Janne's broadsword knocked the Time Killer out of the ring and into the Pit from Mortal Kombat 2. _THUD_

Sonya, who had been in the ring for a few minutes now, suddenly saw Athena across the ring. Running at top speed, the Marine prepared to Handstand Flip Athena into submission. However, when she began her vault, Athena (who was wondering why a giant snowflake was rushing at her) had her Psycho Barrier up, and mystic shocks (BAD mystioc shocks) ran through Sonya's body. Grabbing the still-doing-a-headstand Sonya, Athena tossed her over the ropes. After passing through the field, Sonya landed in the middle of a nest of Aliens. Acid ensued.

Lord Raptor (1945-1975) was busily Evil Screaming Janne whilst this occurred. He turned to see Muscle Power enter the ring. Power turned to the crowd and yelled "I'M NUMBAHHHH ONE!" The crowd booed. Charlotte, who happened to be nearby, performed a Power Gradiation, which knocked the wrestler through the field and into the Saturday Night Slam Masters node, where Mike Haggar led the Slam Masters in what can only be called "an ironic fate". The crowd cheered.

Meanwhile, back in the dressing rooms, Haohmaru was preparing to enter combat. He sat, motionless. His breathing was steady and even. In. Out. In. Out. In. Out. Suddenly he leapt to his feet. "ENLIGHTENMENT!" he yelled, slashing the bedpost and a nice Jackson Pollock painting in two.

Eyedol, with an extra set of ears, heard the voice of the one he was supposed to kill. "W-w-w-wait...that's H-h-h-..."

He never finished his sentence. Wan-Fu, seeing his opportunity, tripped the massive Instinctual Killer, sending him sprawling to the mat. The King of China then started to repeatedly hammer Eyedol in the gut with the Pillar of Pain, ending with a kick that knocked the two-headed beast over the ropes. As Eyedol passed through the field, he suddenly felt light-headed. He then exploded, exposed to the vacuum of Blasteroids.

Ryo Sakazaki was busily getting his hopes crushed by Athena. Kohkening Lord Raptor, he resolved to continue, and not to lose hope that someone here might want a relationship with him. Launching a HaohShohKohKen at Lord Raptor, he mused that he was a perfectly attractive guy, so logically he should have a shot. Launching a second HaohShohKohKen, he noticed Charlotte, in an attractive new hairstyle. Launching a final HaohShohKohKen, he gathered up his courage and decided to go ask Charlotte out.

Of course, Lord Raptor was busily getting pounded by the huge energy waves Ryo was sending at him. The final HaohShohKohKen punted Raptor over the ropes and through the field, into the same nest of Aliens where Sonya was now being cocooned. The Aliens all ignored Raptor. After all, he was dead.

"Hey, babish wonder! Wanna get down with a genuine Lord?"

"Echhhh...don't make me puke!"

"Won't have to! Look at that facehugger... it's lookin' awful friendly... of course, I _could_ rip ya outta there and save yer life... not to mention that wonderful ass..."

Sonya changed her tune instantly. "You know, I've always found decayed men to be so... _sexy_ for some reason..."

"That's more like it!" Raptor ripped Sonya out of the cocoon. Sonya quickly Sonic Blasted the facehugger into debris.

"So, where's your gratitude?"

"Here. I'm gonna blow you a kiss..."

The resulting explosion is better imagined than described.

Ryo, meanwhile, had approached Charlotte tentatively. "Ummmm. Excuse me...Charlotte, right? Well, I was just watching you...okay, that's corny, I know...but, um..."

"Spare me your tiresome efforts, plebian. On this whole world there exists but one man who meets my standards. You would call him Haohmaru. I would call him mine."

Ryo slunk away.

* * *

_Original Authors_

Chris "Birdman" Bird  
Brant Rogers  
Scott Johnson  
Austin Loomis


	4. Section 2

**Section Two**

Birdman looked on as Big Bear called the action.

"Folks, I've written a song about the Rumble. It's a nice little song. And I hope you all like it."

Birdman hastily interjected. "Wait! You aren't going to sing a capella, are you? That's passe!"

Big Bear looked at him. "Okay. You have a point. I guess I'll have to send for my guitar..."

* * *

**"WOLF HAWKFIELD!"** (Virtua Fighter 2)

The huge Canadian ran down to the ring. Once inside, he gave his nodemate, Akira, a high five. "All right! NOW we're gonna kick some ass, right, Akira?"

"Quite."

Wolf noted that Akira needed to loosen up a little.

* * *

**"GLACIUS!"** (Killer Instinct)

"FoR wHo iT cOnCeRnS, tHe oNe KnOwN aS hAoHmArU iS tHiS oNe'S pRiMaRy TaRgEt. InTeRfErE nOt AnD tHe SaMe ShAlL bE GrAnTeD uPoN sElF."

Wolf instantly went after Glacius with a vengeance. "Why did I have to be the hero?" he wondered.

* * *

**"EIJI KASARAGI!"** (King of Fighters '95)

"So, how do you pronounce his name? Eee-gy? Eee-gee? Ay-gee? Ay-gy? I-gee? I-gy?"

"How about we call him "The Fighter Formerly Known As Prince?"

Birdman looked at Big Bear, wondering if he would get the joke.

He didn't.

* * *

**"LEI WULONG!"** (Tekken 2)

Lei was beseiged by Fei Long, who had broken the "no SF2ers" rule to meet his hero (well, his hero was Bruce Lee, who was dead, but Fei was kind of confused. Rest assured, seeing his hero would occur later.) "Jacky Chan! Wow! I've seen ALL your movies! I love 'em! Especially "Fantasy Mission Force"! What ACTING!"

* * *

**"STRYKER!"** (Mortal Kombat 3)

"Well, Big Bear, it would appear that MK3's fighters are having a rather rough go of it thus far. No eliminations, whereas last year they already had two."

"It's all the killing. Bad karma."

* * *

**"MORRIGAN AENSLAND!"** (Darkstalkers 2)

"Another node that's had a rough go of it thus far. How well can Morrigan do? Will she top her seven eliminations from last year's UVR?"

"If a tree falls in the forest, will it crush a chipmunk?"

"Bear, how much longer are you scheduled to be here?"

* * *

**"DAN!"** (Street Fighter Alpha)

Dan was confused. He'd met someone called "Robert Garcia" in the hallway, and this Garcia guy looked like his father used to! Dan was suspicious of wrongdoing. Bison was responsible. Bison was the source of all evil. Bison would pay. Yes. Pay. In blood. And bile. And innards. and...

Dan wiped the flecks of foam from his mouth.

* * *

**"MAI SHIRANUI!"** (King of Fighters '95)

"Another strong fighter from last year. Team England proved to be the Bitches from Eastwick, as some of their victims came to dub them. However, will they fare so well alone? After all, Yuri Sakazaki was nearly eliminated before her teammates showed up...and once one was eliminated, the others fell like so much driftwood."

* * *

**"THUGG!"** (Time Killers)

No commentary here. Thugg's just...indescribable. Too easy a target. It's like making Dan Quayle jokes.

* * *

**"ZEUS!"** (World Heroes Perfect)

The huge giant strode down to ringside, scanning for Haohmaru. He was the latest recruit to the camp of Pyron and Mizuki. After all, Mizuki paid well. All she wanted was this little service, plus some florescent green energy she'd pulled from Zeus' body, and she'd granted him extra power. Nothing much, really.

and, the final fighter of this section...

* * *

**"HAOHMARU!"** (Samurai Showdown 2)

"HA! SO ONCE AGAIN I DRAW A COMPARATIVELY EARLY ENTRY! AND TRULY, I WOULD NOT HAVE IT ANY OTHER WAY! FOR IT IS THE LEGENDARY THING TO DO, TO OVERCOME ALL ODDS AND DEFEAT ALL OPPONENTS, AND ONE CANNOT DO THAT IF ONE IS A LATE ARRIVAL! AFTER ALL, LAST YEAR I DREW TWENTY-SIXTH, AND THEN PROCEEDED TO FIGHT FOR THREE HOURS STRAIGHT AND ELIMINATE TWENTY-TWO OPPONENTS, PARTAKING OF SAKE ALL THE WHILE! I DEFEATED DEATH ITSELF, PROVED MYSELF THE SUPERIOR OF THE DEMON AKUMA (WHO, IT MUST BE POINTED OUT, TRIED BUT FAILED TO SEDUCE ME TO THE DARK SIDE, FOR ONLY ONE WITH MY LEGENDARY WILLPOWER COULD BREAK FREE OF HIS EVIL CLUTCHES, AND INCIDENTALLY, FOR SOME REASON NO LONGER REMEMBERS HIS DOUBLE HUMILIATION AT MY HANDS), ELIMINATED THE FAMED KEN MASTERS (WHO ALSO APPEARS TO BE HAVING MEMORY PROBLEMS), AS WELL AS TWO DARKSTALKERS, SEVERAL OF MY OWN "NODE'S" FIGHTERS, AND A MIGHTY ALIEN WARRIOR WITH A SHOULDER THAT SHOT FIRE! TRULY, I AM UNDEFEATABLE! FOR MINE IS THE NOMAD'S WAY, THE WARRIOR'S WAY, THE HEALTHY WEIGH..."

At the sound of Haohmaru's voice, Morrigan, Glacius, Sodom, Eiji Kasaragi, and Zeus all started towards him. Wolf groaned. "One hundred and thirty fighters to go..."

Akira stared at him. "What?

Wolf just grumbled. "Come on. I'll explain as we fight for the whole Multiverse..."

WHO WILL LIVE?  
WHO WILL DIE?  
IS HAOHMARU _REALLY_ THAT COOL?

* * *

_Original Authors_

Chris "Birdman" Bird  
Brant Rogers  
Scott Johnson  
Austin Loomis


	5. Section 2 - Results

**Section Two - Results**

Wolf Hawkfield entered the ring and was promptly attacked by a flagging Kyo Kusanagi, who slammed the Canadian with his Flying Double Kick. Wolf hit the mat hard, but instantly countered as he rose with a roundhouse kick. Kyo sprawled onto the mat surface, where he was easy prey for a flying elbowdrop from the Virtua Fighter.

Kyo, game for a fight as ever (and being too beaten to know when to give up) staggered to his feet, hands balled into fists. Unfortunately, Wolf was ready, and tripped the youth over, grabbing his legs as he did so. Wolf then began the famed Big Swing, twirling Kyo around and around until he finally let go. Kyo went sailing over the ropes and slammed into the protective forcefield in front of the Eliminated seats, where Ralf was just making his way down to the seat of his choice. Kyo peeled off the field like Jell-O off a spatula and fell through the dimension warp. He landed in the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers node, where he promptly died of laughter.

Meanwhile, Ryo Sakazaki had made his way over to Janne, who had just slashed Akira across the midsection.

"Hey... Janne, right?"

"That's right...

"Look, I was wondering... are you, um... busy, after the Rumble...?"

"Well, no, but you see, I'll only go out with the man I marry."

Ryo considered this. Janne was awfully nice. Maybe she was being witty and expected the same in return...okay, a mock proposal then.

Ryo dropped to one knee exaggeratedly. "Janne! Marry me!"

Janne giggled. "Sure. All you have to do is defeat me in a fight."

Ryo was puzzled. "Huh?"

"Well, I said I'd marry the man who beat me in a fight... well, okay, it's happened a few times, but there were always extenuating circumstances."

With that, Janne jumped into the air and Angel Arrowed the ring, her quarrels slamming into Ryo (a lot) and Charlotte (a little). Charlotte, angered, rushed over.

"You... plebian! Daring to launch attacks upon my personage!"

Janne grinned. "Well, at least _I_ don't wear such slutty armor..."

Charlotte purpled. "You...BITCH! How DARE you!" With that she quickly Triangle Slashed Janne, expertly slicing off various armor straps. Janne's armor peeled off faster than a Tropicana orange, and she was suddenly left holding a broadsword and wearing a flimsy cotton shift.

A _very_ flimsy cotton shift. So flimsy that Ryo couldn't take his eyes off her. So flimsy that Akira and Wolf turned from beating the snot out of Sodom to stare. So flimsy that Sodom didn't take advantage of Wolf and Akira turning away. So flimsy that Galford covered his eyes in embarrasment. So flimsy that Athena cried out "Look! A grey fox! Nice fox!"

Janne attempted to cover herself with her broadsword. It didn't help much. The awkward position of her sword also enabled Charlotte to launch a Power Gradiation that knocked Janne (but _not_ her armor) over the ropes.

Janne landed in front of a Japanese-style houes with lots of animals hanging around. Suddenly, two old men who were sitting on the porch suddenly started up with wolf-whistles. A young girl rushed out with a cloth robe. "Here... it's Nakoruru's... she won't mind... SHUT UP, YOU TWO!"

"Awwwwww, Rimururu..."

Glacius, who cared little for such female attributes, had entered the ring, and was busily carving up a very-hurt-looking Sodom. Sodom parried with his swordbreakers as best he could, but against the morphing abilities of the Instinctual Killer they soon proved useless.

Another battle was taking place across the ring, where Wan-Fu was having some trouble with the newly-arrived Eiji Kasaragi (who had been mortified to see that Rumble management had misspelled his name on the Maxatron video board). Wan-Fu rolled in, hoping to uppercut the Fighting King. However, Eiji was prepared, having seen the King of China execute the same maneuver on Eyedol previously. Whipping out his knives, he slashed Wan-Fu mercilessly. Wan-Fu rolled to a stop, in pain.

Lei Wulong, newly arrived to both the ring *and* the Rumble, ran in with some quickly pre-selected music ("Goodbye" by Gravity Kills, off the Mortal Kombat soundtrack) suited to his Rave War tastes. Quickly turning his back on Ryo Sakazaki (who was feeling dejected, but seeing Lei do this, was suddenly confused as well), he began a series of backflips, whipping Ryo repeatedly with flying feet. Ryo staggered back, but quickly countered with a HaohShohKohKen, which careened into Lei's back with incredible force.

Wan-Fu quickly ducked Eiji's Power Slash, and then jumped up, tossing the Pillar of Pain at the momentarily vulnerable ninja. It exploded into flames upon contact, propelling Kasaragi backwards into the "ropes" and momentarily stunning him. Galford then sicced Poppy on him. The ninja had never been trained to fight dogs before, which was a pity.

Wan-Fu turned away from the ninja, and spied Stryker, just entering the ring. He lunged towards the SWAT team member, screaming "YOU!"

Stryker considered his options quickly, noted that the NYPD Guidebook had no rules for dealing with seven-foot-tall screaming maniacs carrying pillars,  
muttered "Oh, _screw_ this fair play crap" and pulled his gun. Squeezing the trigger repeatedly, he emptied the clip at Wan-Fu, who expertly blocked each bullet with the Pillar of Pain. Stryker muttered a quiet obscenity and threw his gun at Wan-Fu. It hit the King of China in the head and knocked him out.  
Wan-Fu fell in a heap.

Stryker was surprised. "That never worked before..."

Morrigan, who had just jetpacked into the ring, was looking Ryo Sakazaki up and down as he Hohkened Eiji Kasaragi down to the mat.

She glided over. "My... aren't you an attractive specimen of the best the male gender has to offer..."

Ryo suddenly found himself unable to talk coherently. "Ummmmmmm."

"What do you say, after this little tete-a-tete, you and I... teach each other some combos? If you catch my meaning..."

Ryo found himself nodding enthusiastically. _Excellent move, head. Just _great_ stuff. I owe you for this one._

"And then you'll let me feed off you, of course..."

Ryo was jerked out of his pleasant prognostications. "Huh?"

"I just need a _little_ blood. Don't worry, it'll feel _wonderful_... for _both_ of us... and afterwards, there's no reason we can't do some... other things..."

Ryo found himself backing away rather quickly. "How much blood exactly?"

Morrigan shrugged. "A pint... maybe two. What's the difference? It's not like you don't get it back..."

Ryo's eyes were goggling. "Um. What do you consider foreplay?"

"Well...there's _such_ variety..."

Ryo nodded frantically. "Great!" He then HaohShohKohKened the vampiric beauty and ran into Sodom, who he uppercutted just to get out of the way.

Stryker was taking advantage of a pause in the combat to talk to Wolf. Due to the loud noise, much of their conversation could not be heard except by one another.

Stryker: "...his soul? You..."

Wolf: "Yep! This... red eye... told us."

Stryker: "...Shao Kahn?...it?"

Wolf: "...one of... big trouble..."

Stryker: "...Akira? Isn't..."

Wolf: "...believe me... 'too much beer.'"

Stryker: "... in... good guy, after all."

Stryker quickly looked for someone evil, and saw Morrigan gliding after Ryo. Remembering that she had been implicated, he started to run over to her, but his path was blocked by Asamiya Athena.

She looked at him curiously. "Hey! What's the banana for?"

He followed her pointing finger to his Tazer at his hip. "That's not a banana, kid. It's a shock gun."

Athena looked suddenly angry. "That's not nice! Giant snowmen shouldn't carry shock guns! Especially ones disguised as bananas!" She quickly Psycho Uppercutted the Mortal Kombatant over the "ropes" and into the field.

Stryker landed in the Outworld, right in the middle of a barren arena. Except for one mutant sitting on a ratty-looking throne, it was a dead place.

"HEY! King Baraka no say you could come through sky! After all, while Shao Kahn gone, King Baraka in charge of Outworld!"

Stryker grumbled. "I don't have time for this..." and whipped out his Tazer.

40,000 volts surged through Baraka's body and the mutant collapsed in a smoking heap.

Stryker looked around at the desolate landscape. "Geez, I'm glad I wasn't here for the last Mortal Kombat... this place blows..."

* * *

**Room 238, RumbleDome Hotel**

Sektor's chest was a maze of wires spreading out into an open section of the wall. Numerous LEDs blinked at different rates as the cyborg clipped various wirings into fibreoptic cables.

Cyrax stood by, motionless. "LK-49, report."

Sektor didn't turn his head. "Fibreoptic patch successful. Power system corrupted. All fighters requiring electrical power will be instantaneously reprogrammed, designating primary target as Target Alpha, AKA Sub-Zero."

Cyrax still made no movement. "Noted."

* * *

**In The Ring**

Dan was now in the ring, and looking for Bison. However, as he craned his neck, Ryo ran into him.

"Robert? What the..."

"Who's Robert?"

"You... no, you aren't Robert. My mistake."

"Well, who's Robert anyway?"

"My brother-in-law. Well, almost, anyway. They're engaged."

"I see." Dan paused. "Is looking like him a good thing, then?"

"Hey, he's a good guy. Cool."

"Well, at least it's not a bad thing. I'm Dan, by the way."

Ryo shook Dan's hand. "I'm..."

Morrigan's voice wafted over. "Oh... Ryo... did I ever mention that I'm into pain? Not much, mind you...just a bit...your fireball thingy was just _so _good..."

Ryo suddenly looked panicky. "I'm outta here, is who I am!" He continued on his trek away from Morrigan...and this time, ran into Mai Shiranui.

"Geez! Ryo, look where you're going..." She trailed off as she saw Ryo's face. "What's wrong?"

Ryo just pointed mutely at Morrigan.

Mai grinned. "This is _bad_? I mean, I know how lonely you've been... although I can see where Takuma would disapprove of a nymphomaniac... but hey, beggars can't be choosers. Mind you, being forced to choose a beautiful member of the opposite sex who happens to have a sex drive bigger than a Buick, not the worst thing that could happen."

Ryo stared at her. "No, the fact that a beautiful woman is interested in me, that's not a bad thing at all. The fact that her idea of sex is DRINKING BLOOD, NOW THAT'S A BAD THING! BAD BAD BAD!"

Mai smiled. "Look, want me to get her off your back for you?"

"Oh, PLEASE..."

"Gotcha. But after this, no more favors to each other. Okay? It's everyone for themselves in this, after all."

"Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou..."

Mai ran forward and tossed a fan at Morrigan. The succubus blocked it easily.

"I just want him."

"Well, you can't have him."

Morrigan grinned. "I see you've made your decision... now, let's see you enforce it." She quickly launched a Soul Fist at Mai, who blocked it. Mai then jumped at Morrigan... not the smartest thing to do, as Morrigan Shadow Bladed the lady ninja, then continued gliding serenely after Ryo.

Thugg had now entered the ring. His cousins, Grokk, Grogg, and Blamm, were all cheering madly for their biggest, baddest relative. He ran over to Eiji Kasaragi and bonked the ninja in the head with his club. His relatives were ecstatic. He then ran over to Sodom (who was in a lot of pain) and bonked _him_ in the head with his club. His relatives were going nuts (or, more precisely, apes-t). He then ran over to Wan-Fu, who was just staggering to his feet, and tried to bonk _him_ with his club. However, Wan-Fu caught the weapon as it decended upon him, and easily pushed it away. Thugg just stared as Wan-Fu knocked him silly with the Rotating Pillar Smash, and sent him flying out of the ring and into the Beavis and Butt-head node.

"Huhuhuh. Lookit, Beavis. A cave dude."

"Cave dudes suck, Butt-head. Let's set him on fire!"

"Ooook arggg wanga wanga blooky. [I think I'll beat the living snot out of you two just to cheer me up.]"

Zeus, newly arrived, smiled as Charlotte attempted to skewer him with her epee. "You've _got_ to be kidding me." With one mighty kick, he sent the woman warrior flying across the ring.

Mai Shiranui, meanwhile, was toasting Lei Wulong to a crispy golden brown by repeatedly Flame Fandangoing him against the "ropes", watching him ricochet into the elctrical field, and then repeating. Growing tired of her sport, she knelt as he came tumbling away from the "ropes" and Flame Flash Kicking him over the field and into another ring... this one for 3-Count Bout. Blubber Man walked up to the prone Rave Warrior, stood him up, and pulled out his famed shiv, stabbing Lei with it at least twenty times.

At that precise moment, Haohmaru entered, and the previously rather leisurely (for a Rumble, anyway) pace suddenly got frenetic as no less than five fighters attacked him. Haohmaru, ever ready for such occurances, let loose with a mighty slash that swept all but Glacius down. The Instinctual Killer then rushed in and went nuts on Haohmaru, pummeling the ronin with a 17-hit combo.

Haohmaru staggered back a bit.

Glacius was incredulous. "tHaT iS iMpOsSiBlE! nO bEiNg CaN wItHsTaNd SuCh An AsSaUlT!"

Haohmaru laughed. "HA! ALTHOUGH YOU HAVE INDEED HIT ME A GREAT MANY TIMES, YOUR BLOWS GREW PROGRESSIVELY WEAKER WITH EACH ATTACK (SOMETHING THAT REQUIRED LEGENDARY SKILLS OF PERCEPTION TO NOTICE)! THE TOTAL DAMAGE FROM YOUR ASSAULT WAS A MERE WHIPPING COMPARED TO ONE OF UKYO TACHIBANA'S SLASHES, OR, EVEN MORE DEVASTATING, ONE OF MY LEGENDARY ATTACKS!" Haohmaru then Sogetsuzaned the Instinctual Killer away. Glacius would have landed right next to the ropes, were it not for Dan, who, by chance, was standing right where Glacius would have landed, and uppercutted the alien, bouncing him over the "ropes". Glacius fell through the field and landed in front of a big mushroom. Several people with mushroomish hats ran over. "Whatever will Mario do this time?" one of them wondered.

As Eiji Kasaragi staggered back from Haohmaru's slash, Wolf was there. Grabbing the ninja's midsection, the Virtua Fighter heaved and threw. Eiji fell over the "ropes" and landed on a rickety dock in the middle of a tropical river. Blanka ran over to him and started to eat.

Meanwhile, Sodom had fallen even further back...right into Galford. The American ninja started swiftly slashing up Sodom's back, causing the...ninja? boxer? football-player? to stumble to his right, into the "ropes". The field stunned the Shadoloo servant, who stumbled once more...right into a roundhouse kick from Galford. Sodom was knocked just over the "ropes" and fell through a field into Avalon. Exodus zoomed over to him.

"Are you one of us?"

Sodom just stared.

"Evidently not." Exodus then blasted the Street Fighter into component atoms.

Akira was trying to attack Haohmaru now, with limited success. The ronin continued to block Akira's attacks with ease. Wolf stood by, his loyalties torn between a good friend and the fate of the world. In the end, he didn't have to choose sides, as Akira quickly sidestepped Haohmaru and was rewarded with a Sogetsuzan over the "ropes" for his efforts.

Akira landed in Smurf Village, right on top of Brainy's house where Sasquatch had landed.

"Papaaaaaa Smuuuuuurf! Now it's a HUMAN! Can I move my house?"

Morrigan had turned her attention to Ryo again, but Zeus was in the way. Clucking her tongue tiresomely, the Darkstalker jetted over to the giant and Shadow Bladed him into the field, where he landed in the Outworld... specifically in the Dead Pool. _SSSSSSSSSS_

Ryo panicked. He ran over to Haohmaru.

"Look...hold your hand just so, okay?"

"HA! I SUPPOSE I CAN DO THIS, BUT WHY AM I DOING THIS REMARKABLY UNLEGENDARY HAND GESTURE?"

"Just wait..." Ryo took a few steps back, then ran at Haohmaru, jumping on top of the ronin's upturned palm and vaulting himself over the "ropes" and into the field. He landed in a familiar-looking grotto. It was _Morrigan's _grotto.

Praying and trying not to panic, Ryo started muttering to himself. "I'm only here for fifteen minutes... fifteen minutes..."

* * *

_Original Authors_

Chris "Birdman" Bird  
Brant Rogers  
Scott Johnson  
Austin Loomis


	6. Section 3

**Section Three**

Birdman was happy. Big Bear was gone. The two events were related.

Down in the ring, all the fighters turned as the music cranked up.

"OHHHHHHH, SHAWN!"

* * *

**"SHAWN MICHAELS!"** (WWF Wrestlemania)

"~ I'm just a sexy boy (sexy boy), I'm not your boy toy (boy toy), I'm just a sexy boy (sexy boy), I'm not your boy toy (boy toy)...I think I'm hot, I know I'm sexy, I got the looks-that drive the girls wild...~"

Charlotte was temporarily tempted to reevaluate her amour for Haohmaru.

Up in the booth, Birdman spoke into the Big Bear-less mike. "And that's one of the mystery slots, folks: Shawn Michaels from WWF Wrestlemania. The fighters in this node have perfected the art of throwing people out of the ring... one can only wonder how good Shawn Michaels will be in this one!"

* * *

**"FULGORE!"** (Killer Instinct)

Fulgore scanned the arena. "0111010111010110. TARGET RANK 1: SUB-ZERO, REPLACING TARGET HAOHMARU AS PRIMARY DESIGNATE. HAOHMARU IS SHUNTED TO TARGET RANK 10. 01101101001101."

* * *

**"AKUMA!"** (Street Fighter Alpha)

The one known as the Demon jogged forward. He ignored the odd feelings inside his belly, that had been rising and falling all morning long. They were nothing before his force of will.

As he jumped into the ring, the forces suddenly grew too much for him to handle. Bright blue light exploded from his chest. All the fighters in the ring had to shield their eyes.

Birdman got on the RumbleCom unit. "BRANT! What's going on?"

Brant replied. "Some sort of nodal flux! I spotted it earlier...I've been trying to track it down for a while. Looks like we found it!"

Birdman grimaced. "But Akuma..." He paused as he saw the aftermath of the explosion.

**Four** Akumas stood there. One looked like the original. The second looked thinner and older. The third one looked like the second, but proved himself different by super-jumping up and quickly launching two fireballs at Haohmaru. The final one was taller, and looked somehow more human than the other two.

Birdman groaned. "Oh. Great. Now Akuma Inc. is here. The Rumble is as good as gone..."

Brant laughed. "Relax. I found an out."

Birdman grimaced. "What out could there possibly be?"

He was answered as Haohmaru slashed one Akuma across the chest. All four suddenly crumpled in pain.

Birdman suddenly understood. "All four Akumas..."

"...share the same life bar." Brant finished. "They have increased attacking power, but also have increased vulnerability."

"What happens when one gets eliminated?"

"I've established an anti-flux ring around the dimensional field. As soon as one Akuma gets tossed, the others will disappear."

Birdman nodded. "Okay. Works for me."

* * *

**"KABAL!"** (Mortal Kombat 3)

The strains of "I Need A Hero" blasted through the ring as Kabal ran down to ringside. The first moment he was in the ring, he instantly Spin Ran across the ring, catching Wan-Fu, Wolf, Morrigan, and Shawn Michaels in his wake. Running over to Wan-Fu, he quickly comboed the King of China for seven hits (and LOTS of pain and suffering).

* * *

**"ERICK!"** (World Heroes Perfect)

The huge Viking waddled down to ringside. Clutching his axe, he screamed "ODIN!" just before entering.

Leif, in the dressing rooms, was enraged. "HEY! Only _I_ get to scream that! He probably never even sacked Ireland!"

* * *

**"JOE HIGASHI!"** (King of Fighters '95)

The new, improved, three-times-as-arrogant former Fatal Furite jogged down to ringside. Looking up at the carnage in the ring, he stared at it briefly, then began to laugh hard.

"You GOTTA be kidding me! I could take any of these jokers in my sleep..." He then jumped in and started punching Galford.

In the Eliminated seating, the newly-arrived Janne was chatting with Andy Bogard. "You know, I don't remember Joe being like that. I _did_ ask him to marry me, after all..."

"Yeah... a few months back, he ran into some guy with purple hair. Yori or something like that. He's been like that ever since. We're just keeping him around until we can find a cure..."

Meanwhile, Stryker was busy instructing Sasquatch on the basics of proper baton usage.

* * *

**"JOHNNY MAXIMUM!"** (World Heroes Perfect)

The big football player bowed his head before entering the ring. "Oh, Gods Of Dark Football, hear my plea! Give me your dark gridiron might so that I may tackle my enemies and keep them from making passes!"

Janne looked at him in awe. "One of these days, he's going to find out that Mudman made that up as a joke..."

* * *

**"SILVER SAMURAI!"** (X-Men: Children of the Atom)

The Silver Samurai looked around, trying to ignore the laughter. "Stop it! Stop it! I've won fights before! I'm not a loser! I'm not! I'm NOT!" He quickly skewered one of Thugg's cousins (Blamm) to prove his point. No one stopped laughing. (Except for Blamm.)

* * *

**"RIKUO!"** (Darkstalkers 2)

The merman walked towards ringside. "So...it's time to get WET!"

Everybody wondered what Rikuo was talking about.

* * *

**"BILLY KANE!"** (King of Fighters '95)

"And this is Billy Kane, looking to avenge his poor showing in last year's Rumble, where he was completely dominated by T. Hawk and only lasted a few minutes."

"Yes, Billy is quite the fighter, I must admit. Having hired him many a time, I think it's safe to say that last year's performance was just an unlucky fluke."

Birdman wheeled in his chair to see Geese Howard. "What are you..."

"I'm your new broadcast partner."

and, the final fighter of this section...

* * *

**"LION RAFALE!"** (Virtua Fighter 2)

Lion strode down, his much-disliked stage music replaced by "J.A.R." by Green Day. The audience cheered the only decent Green Day song in the history of music.

Up in the booth, Birdman looked at a chart. "Yes, folks, Lion _is_ the second youngest fighter at this year's Rumble, older than only Ryoko from World Heroes Perfect. That's young, especially considering that Yuri Sakazaki, Asamiya Athena, Cham Cham and Sie Kensou are all under twenty. Of course, youth often dominates. But there are old fighters, too: note the presence of Caffeine Nicotine, Shun Di, Chin Gentsai, and Wolverine, who's probably older than everyone else here."

WHO WILL LIVE?  
WHO WILL DIE?  
DOES THE SILVER SAMURAI SUCK?

* * *

_Original Authors_

Chris "Birdman" Bird  
Brant Rogers  
Scott Johnson  
Austin Loomis


	7. Section 3 - Results

**Section Three - Results**

Shawn Michaels entered the ring and instantly superkicked Galford four times. The american ninja staggered back.

Shawn grinned. "Just what I'd expect from a wuss like you. You haveta have your *dog* fight for you, loser!"

Poppy agreed, and leapt upon the wrestler snarling and snapping. Shawn Michaels was suddenly occupied with a dog. A very angry dog.

Galford chuckled as the wrestler, wearing exceedingly unprotective tights, screamed under Poppy's jaws. "Down, Poppy!" yelled Galford. The dog complied, and Michaels staggered forwards. "Thanks a lot, pal... geez, am I in pain..."

Galford smiled. "It isn't going to end here." He then slashed Shawn across the chest. The wrestler was knocked over the "ropes" by the force of the blow, and landed in Smurf Village. Handy muttered something about overtime pay.

Fulgore entered the ring next. "000011010011. TARGET DESIGNATE: SUB-ZERO IS NOT PRESENT. SECONDARY OBJECTIVE: ELIMINATE TARGET DESIGNATE: HAOHMARU. TERMINATE WITH EXTREME PREJUDICE ORDERS GRANTED. 1001010001110." The cyberwarrior strode over to the samurai.

"HA! NOW, YOU ARE AN IMPRESSIVE WARRIOR, FOR YOU SPEAK WITH PROPER VOLUME (EVEN THOUGH YOU LACK THE PROPER INTONATION THAT ONLY ONE OF MY LEGENDARY STATURE CAN ACHIEVE). BUT, I CANNOT FIGHT WITH YOU RIGHT NOW, AS I AM OTHERWISE OCCUPIED WITH THIS DEMONESS!" Haohmaru blocked a Shadow Blade from Morrigan to prove his point. "PERHAPS YOU WOULD LIKE TO FIGHT WITH THE MIGHTY WAN-FU?"

Fulgore responded. "0110110011. IMPLEMENT TERMINATION SEQUENCE IMMEDIATELY. 100100001111." His head split open, and an energy cannon popped out, instantly targeting Haohmaru. Fulgore initiated the Cool Killing Phrase neccessary to accompany termination. "ALOHA." Haohmaru, by now, had lost all interest in the Instinctual Killer, being occupied with Morrigan.

"YOU!"

Suddenly, Fulgore's cannon was crushed by a gigantic pillar of rock. Namely, Wan-Fu's Pillar Of Pain. Repeatedly slamming the android, the mighty King of China took his wrath out on the powerful machine.

Fulgore's cannon, crushed under the assualt, began screwing around with its logic circuits. "FLESHLINGS ARE WEAK AND MUST BE EXTERMINATED! EXTERMINATE! EXTERMINATE! EXTERMINATE!" The electronic voie began ululating up and down rapidly. The unit began shooting its secondary weaponry in all directions, hitting nobody. Wan-Fu, tiring of his sport, finally eliminated the Fulgore-1 with one mighty swipe of the Pillar.

Meanwhile...

It was a tense day in the Mushroom Kingdom. Both sides approached, bloody and battered. On the one side, lots of mean-spirited-looking animals, led by a hedgehog, a fox, and something that called itself "Knuckles". On the other, lots of mushroom-looking people, a beautiful (though exceedingly angry-looking) princess, some dinosaurs, and two bedraggled-looking plumbers.

Wordlessly, the plumber in red thrust out a document. The hedgehog took it, and motioned for a pen. The fox ran over to him,  
prooffering a metal stylus. The time had come. The Sonic-Mario Peace Accord would be signed today, ending two years of bloody internodal warfare.

Suddenly, the Fulgore-1 came crashing from the sky, landing on top of both Mario and Sonic. Getting up (little the worse for wear after the fall) it spoke again. "0101010101001. MULTIPLE ORGANIC TARGETS. EXTERMINATE ALL! EXTERMINATE! EXTERMINATE! EXTERMINATE!"  
Bullets began flying everywhere. Bunnies and Mushroom Men alike were riddled with high-caliber lead.

Knuckles screamed out. "It's a trick! The damn 'Shroomers set us up! KILL 'EM!"

Luigi yelled to the amassed Mushroom forces. "Come on! We gotta save Mario anda killa da stinking Sonic-lovers! They betrayed-a us!"

And the blood ran red that day in the Mushroom Kingdom.

Back at the Rumble, Birdman stared at the screen. "Hoo boy, is _that_ one going to cost us..."

Geese shrugged. "It's no big deal. They'll take pairs of shoes and leaves as payment..."

Down in the ring, the Akuma Effect had partially blinded Haohmaru. All four Akumas were pounding on the samurai mercilessly. Fireballs flew. Haohmaru couldn't possibly block them all.

But, Wolf was there. Grabbing the tallest (SFTM) Akuma from behind, he quickly German Suplexed the Street Fighter. The other three Akumas suddenly all grunted in pain.

That was all the time Haohmaru needed. "SOGETSUZAN!" Slamming the SFA Akuma upwards, and over the "ropes". All the other Akumas suddenly disappeared in a burst of bright blue light.

Akuma staggered up. For a few brief moments, he had known how truly great he would become, and the samurai had robbed him of that chance. The samurai would pay...

Suddenly he noticed how primitive his surrounding looked. And that he was standing in a shadow. A very _big_ shadow. He turned around, and stared into the maw of Sauron.

* * *

**Room 238, RumbleDome Hotel**

Akarui paused before entering the room. Could he and his trusted assistants fix whatever was wrong in there?

Opening the door, he spotted Smoke, Sektor, and Cyrax, all standing motionless by one wall. Looking around, nothing *seemed* to be amiss...

"Greetings, human. State your query."

Akarui nearly jumped as Sektor vocalized through his faceplate. The tinny voice unnerved him.

"Um...well, there was this blip on the power grid..."

"Malfunction in power intake by LK-46. Misuse of adaptor led to overload. Self-repair systems are now online."

"Oh. Well, okay." Akarui, feeling much better now, left quickly.

Sektor returned to standing against the wall. Motionless once again.

* * *

**Room 756, RumbleDome Hotel**

"Look, I _want_ to help, but how can I? The moment I try to help out Haohmaru, number 27 will know, and that'll be it for me! Dead! Soul destroyed! I _do not_ want my soul destroyed!" Jago was in a bit of a panic.

Kung Lao nodded. "No problem. We can work this out." He turned to Rose. "We _can_ work this out, right?"

Rose shook her head. "I can restore his soul to his body, but that's it. No soul, we're in trouble."

Kung Lao shook his head. "Not good enough. We have to..." He trailed off.

"Where's Captain Kidd? And Sie Kensou?"

* * *

**The Ring**

The newly entered Kabal, successful with his first Spin Run, had tried the maneuver again.

On Wolf.

Who blocked.

And Big Swung Kabal out of the ring. Kabal landed in the NBA Jam node, where he was promptly ushered off to the crowd by forceful-looking security men.

Meanwhile, Erick's mind had wandered far away from fighting. He was talking to Athena.

"Sooooo...what's a pretty girl like yourself doing in a place like this?" (Note that Erick was a Viking, and thus had spent his pickup line practice time slashing people with an axe.)

"Watching all the peaches pass by on the beaches. It's fun! I mean, sometimes a peach gets knocked up and screams for a bit, but other than that..." She suddenly stopped cold. "LIZARDS! YOU'RE ALL TURNING INTO LIZARDS!" she screamed.

Erick wasn't very accustomed to people with an attention span of less than three seconds. "Um..."

"YOU! YOU'RE A LIZARD TOO!" She quickly jumped away, then Phoenix Arrowed Erick, ending off with an vaulting kick that knocked the World Hero over the "ropes" and into the middle of the now-disintegrated Sonic-Mario Peace Accords.

"01011000101. TARGET USES COLD. POSIT: SUB-ZERO ALSO USES COLD. CONCLUSION: TARGET IS SUB-ZERO. TERMINATE WITH EXTREME PREJUDICE. 100100101110."

"Huh?"

"ALOHA."

_**BOOOM!**_

Athena, meanwhile, had suddenly calmed down. "Oh. My mistake. You're sheep, not lizards. Carry on! Sheep I can handle."

Another less meaningful interaction was taking place on the other side of the ring.

"Ha...oh god, you're such a LOSER! I mean, your fireball doesn't even go two feet! What kind of wimp can't make his fireball go further than two feet?" Joe Higashi was almost busting a gut.

Dan stared at him, silently, his hands clenched into fists.

"I mean, who taught you to fight? Some wetnap out of nursery school?"

Dan was positively steaming. "MY. FATHER."

"Oh, god. Was he as pointless as you are? Cause if he was, his sole "achievement" in life was bringing you into the world...ha, ha, ha...UGH!"

Joe Higashi had, unfortunately, been standing within two feet of Dan. The Alpha Streeter continued the attack by uppercutting Joe over the "ropes" and into the Rampage node, where Lizzy noticed him and came roaring over. The dazed Joe didn't even have time to brag.

Morrigan and a newly-arrived Johnny Maximum were busily taking turns pounding on Haohmaru, who was having a lot of trouble blocking both their attacks. Wolf was unable to come to Haohmaru's aid, being pounded on by Wan-Fu as he was.

Suddenly, the Silver Samurai entered the ring, and began trading projectiles with Mai Shiranui. This occurred for about the next two minutes, and Rikuo and Billy Kane had time to enter the ring (Billy running over and helping Morrigan whomp on Haohmaru).

Then, the Samurai decided to prove, once and for all, that he did not suck.

Raising his sword to the heavens, he channeled a massive lightning blast through the blade, electrocuting everybody in the ring except Haohmaru and Wolf (both of whom had been blocking). It proved worst for Morrigan, who had been in the middle of a Shadow Blade when slammed with the lightning; she was pounded over the "ropes" with sheer electrical force. Ryo Sakazaki was pacing madly back and forth. "One more minute, one more minute, last minute, come on come on get me outta here..."

Suddenly Morrigan showed up, plummetting and landing in a heap. Getting up and brushing herself off, she noticed Ryo.

"Ah. Couldn't resist, could you?" She began gliding after the Fighting King, who began backing away.

"Um. Morrigan, maybe we could just be friends..?"

"Oh, of course! We'll just be the type who have sex occasionally... like once every night..."

"ONCE EVERY NIGHT?"

"Well, _I'd_ call that fairly occasional, wouldn't you?"

Ryo suddenly felt rock against his back, and realized he had nowhere left to retreat to.

Morrigan jetted forward and lightly grabbed him. "Hey, relax. It'll feel niiiiiice..."

Suddenly, Ryo disappeared.

Morrigan stamped her foot in irritation. "Oh, _damn_..."

Ryo appeared in the Eliminated seats, right next to a very surprised Janne. She was surprised by his babbling "thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou..."

The latest entrant, Lion Rafale, had now entered, and ran at Johnny Maximum, leaping on his back and clawing at his throat. The demonic football jock staggered backwards in pain. Jumping away, the young Virtua Fighter speedily slammed Johnny with a pair of low kicks, ending with a pair of dancing kicks, which knocked the World Hero into the "ropes" (and his second electric shock in twenty seconds).

As the Maximum One stumbled forward, Mai Shiranui caught him with a Flame Flash Kick, knocking J. Max over the "ropes" and onto the middle of a gridiron.

Rising up, he felt like he had come home. Until two dozen Super High Impact footballers noticed he was holding a football.

Charlotte was quick on the draw, stabbing over at the new entrant. However, Lion quickly sidestepped the blade. Without resistance, Charlotte overstepped her position. Lion didn't help matters any by grabbing her and slapping her over the "ropes". Charlotte landed back in her home node.

She began crying. She had failed. Her last chance to prove herself to Haohmaru and she had failed.

Up in the booth, Geese was sniffling.

Birdman stared at him. "Geese, I never would have figured you for a romantic."

Geese shrugged. "I dunno... I just see this poor... loveless woman... and I think... 'where's the justice...' ...waahhhhhhhhh!"

Billy Kane, meanwhile, was trading words and blows with Mai Shiranui.

"Andy? (WHAM!) Why that loser? (WHAM!) I'm ten times the man he is! (WHAM!) And ten times the fighter! (WHAM!)"

"You'll never (WHAM!) understand, will you? (WHAM!) You may be ten times (WHAM!) the fighter, but you'll never (WHAM!) be ten times the _man_...not without (WHAM!) implants, anyways...(WHAM!)"

Billy paused to figure that out, looking progressively more shocked as he figured out the double meaning. Mai took the opportunity to lock him in a headscissors and vault him over the "ropes".

Billy landed on the mat of a wrestling ring. Standing up, he tried hard to redeem his sense of manhood. It was not helped any when Yokozuna landed on him from the top rope. (I'd call _that_ a Fatality...)

Lion was busy with yet another fighter now, the fairly powerful Rikuo. Rikuo had been occupying himself with pounding on Wan-Fu, and was angling to prove himself.

Noting Lion jumping through the air, he smoothly launched himself into a Trick Fish. However, the impossible angle of Lion's flight pattern fooled the usually adept Rikuo's aim, and the merman sailed right in front of Lion (who was understandably surprised) and out of the ring.

He landed in a desert - the desert from the Indiana Jones game.

The next fifteen minutes were going to be hell...

* * *

_Original Authors_

Chris "Birdman" Bird  
Brant Rogers  
Scott Johnson  
Austin Loomis


	8. Section 4

**Section Four**

More fighters continued their trek in.

* * *

**"PYRON!"** (Darkstalkers 2)

Pyron's eyes were fixed on the goal. Haohmaru. The Soul Worth Millions. (Of souls, that is.) His new-found status as a Really Big Guy meant less than nothing to him. It would be his.

* * *

**"MICHELLE CHAN!"** (Tekken 2)

Michelle wondered briefly why the fiery guy was screaming obscenities as the long-haired guy slashed him.

* * *

**"ORION!"** (Time Killers)

"Why did you let these guys in again?"

The mike was off. "It wasn't my idea, Geese. Really, it wasn't. I didn't want to see them ever again."

"So why did you let them in?"

Birdman poured a shot of vodka. "Drop the subject, Geese."

* * *

**"CHANG KOEHAN!"** (King of Fighters '95)

"C'mon, everybody! Hum along!"

With that, Chang Koehan started singing his Korean novelty single, "I am Iron Ball." Jon Talbain, up in the hotel, covered his ears in pain. Poppy howled. Of course, Chang was completely oblivious, being totally caught up in his music.

* * *

**"RIPTOR!"** (Killer Instinct)

Riptor didn't say anything. Dinosaurs generally don't.

* * *

**"ROSE!"** (Street Fighter Alpha)

Rose strode down imperiously. She always did. Something about fighting people with a scarf does that to you. Of course, she was occupied with this whole Haohmaru's soul business. What a bother...

* * *

**"KANO!"** (Mortal Kombat 3)

Kano wasn't really paying attention to the ongoings in the ring. Something naggled at the back of his mind.

_It had been a warm day when Shao Kahn killed Johnny Cage. Kano could remember retching as the Kahn broke Johnny's spine over his knee. But something was missing as the Kahn proved his victory in the Outworld, and declared Earth his next target. No. Not something. Someone. Kitana had run... Mileena was there, simpering over Baraka... Sheeva... Shang Tsung..._

_Where was Kintaro? He had been taken prisoner. Yes, that was it. The Kahn had bragged then, of breaking the Shokan's neck and drinking the green blood from his own hands..._

_But the Kahn's hands were clean._

Kano shook off the memory. Better to think about it later.

* * *

**"COLOSSUS!"** (X-Men: Children of the Atom)

Colossus was confident entering this Rumble. Having seen last year's, he knew only a few individuals could match him in strength, and none of them were present.

* * *

**"NEINHALT SEIGER!"** (Samurai Showdown 2)

"Bozhe moi...this is going to be tougher than I thought..." muttered Colossus.

* * *

**"KAGEMARU!"** (Virtua Fighter 2)

The ninja ran down to ring, flipping high into the air and landing firmly on the prone Kano (just knocked down by Seiger).

He said nothing. That whole ninja-stealth thing, you know.

and, the final fighter of this section...

* * *

**"NEO-DIO!"** (World Heroes Perfect)

"Sold my soul for this. Gotta make it good. Gotta. Gotta. Gotta make it good..."

Up in the hotel, Mizuki laughed.

WHO WILL LIVE?  
WHO WILL DIE?  
WILL MK OR KI GET THEIR FIRST ELIMINATION THIS ROUND?

* * *

_Original Authors_

Chris "Birdman" Bird  
Brant Rogers  
Scott Johnson  
Austin Loomis


	9. Section 4 - Results

**Section Four - Results**

As Pyron entered, he instantly saw his target. Haohmaru, battling across the ring with the Silver Samurai. Haohmaru, possessor of the megacharged soul that would garner him the power of a thousand dimensions.

Before attacking, he made mental contact with Mizuki. "Have we had further luck in recruitment?"

The demonic sorceress replied. "Indeed. Erick, Shura, Johnny Maximum, Fuuma, Jack, and Zeus of the World Heroes are all ours now, joining Neo-Dio. I may be able to snare Ryoko as well...she so desperately desires to not be cute, she may do anything."

"And the other World Heroes?"

"Tough sells. Hanzou and Kim Dragon are too upright. Rasputin knows a thing or two about souls, as does Mudman. Ryofu simply laughed in my emissary's face. Brocken is in some sort of trance... he seems obsessed with Sub-Zero. And Kidd..." She paused. "Kidd is odd. I _should_ be able to snare a thief like him, but my emissary was thoroughly beaten up by him when he approached..."

"No matter. These additions to our forces now make us the equal of the alliance between Rugal and Number 27. Excellent work, my compatriot..."

Pyron suddenly noticed Galford standing in front of him.

"Excuse me...are you the alien demon elemental known as Pyron?"

"Yes! Puny mortal, I am Pyron... scourge of the Fiery Plane, Master of Heat, King of Combustion! I shall reign victorious over all I see! Now, get out of my way... my choice of opponent is the samurai known as Haohmaru, for he won last year's tourney."

"Just checking." Galford then slashed Pyron full across the chest. As Pyron staggered back, Galford remarked, "I was _wondering_ what the flaming explosion in San Fran a few weeks back was caused by. Guess I have my answer."

Pyron stood, enraged. "Insolent mortal! Die at my hands!" He then jumped into the air and performed a Fiery Planets, which sent Galford flying across the ring.

Michelle Chan and Orion, two new entries, were both firmly attempting to prove themselves major contenders. Orion, a Rumble veteran, went after the big ticket, Haohmaru (even though, in the pit of his stomach, he knew he was going to fail), while Michelle clobbered the most impressive displayer of power thus far, the Silver Samurai, with a triple spin kick. The Samurai went down, but Haohmaru stood firm and slashed Orion back. The Time Killer was sent spinning across the ring, over to Athena.

Orion got up quickly, brandishing his laser-sword. "Okay! Prepare to die at the hands of..."

He never got a chance to finish, as Athena grabbed him into a big hug. "Mr. Flopsy! I haven't seen you since I was six!" She kissed Orion on the cheek. "You were the smartest rabbit I ever had...you ate carrots and everything..."

Orion was confused. "Um. I'm not Mr. Flopsy..."

Athena looked at Orion. "Hmmmm." She stood back. "No, you're right. You aren't." She then grabbed him again and tossed him over the "ropes". He landed in Shao Kahn's Dead Pool in MK2. A little while later, his clean skeleton began floating upwards.

Athena sniffed. "Serves you right for impersonating my rabbit."

Chang Koehan had now entered, and waddled over to Haohmaru. He began pounding the samurai with his big iron ball. Haohmaru went down like a ton of bricks. Chang continued pounding on the fallen samurai.

However, Wolf was ever-vigilant. Quickly kicking Mai Shiranui away, he ran over and shoulder-butted Chang in the back. Chang staggered away.

Meanwhile, Galford was getting cohesively massacred by an angry Pyron. The Darkstalker was screaming things like "Insignificant mortal!" and "Pathetic worm!" with every blow. Fire Moons, Fiery Planets, Flame Drills... Galford was getting it _all_.

Wolf stepped away quickly. He had seen Riptor enter the ring, and the Instinctual Killer was making a beeline for Haohmaru. Wolf held his breathing at a normal pace and prepared to Frankensteiner the lizard...

"YOU!"

...which was unneccessary, as Wan-Fu had apparently decided that Riptor would be tastier after severe tenderization. Slamming the Pillar of Pain on the reptile's head, he screamed again. "YOU!" for extra emphasis. Riptor collapsed. Wan-Fu started hammering on the Instinctual Killer yet further.

"YOU! YOU! YOU!"

A newly entered Rose quickly ran over to Dan, who was resting after uppercutting Mai Shiranui away from him. Mai landed near Lion Rafale, who pounced on her as fast as he could.

"Dan! We have to talk! It's important!"

"It had better be."

* * *

**Room 528, RumbleDome Hotel**

Number 27 flushed the toilet and quickly washed his hands. Taking the towel (unlike some of the stupider Ultratech employees, he always did menial tasks himself...it helped one keep a healthy respect for the nothings of society, and the dangers they could pose), he smoothly dried off his hands. He reached for the door lock, and,  
opening the door, strode out...

...to a scene of utter chaos. His three guards were lying on the floor...one with severe bruising on his face, one clutching his temples convulsively and moaning, and the last one with his shirt ripped open, as if by teeth.

Instantly assuming the worst, he ran to his travel-case, which contained the soul energy (at least, that was what Ultratech had assumed it was, and Number 27 had spearheaded the project, so that's what it was, dammit) of the Instinctual Killers. Each Killer's soul energy was contained in a small vial. (With the obvious exception of the Fulgore-1, which had no soul.)

Looking through the vials, he breathed a sigh of relief.  
Combo... Orchid... Cinder... Spinal...

Wait. Where was Jago's vial?

* * *

**The Ring**

A newly cognizant Dan ran over to the newly entered Kano (who was running for Haohmaru). However, on the way he was intercepted by Athena.

"Robert! Hi, Robert!"

"Look, I've already said to someone else... I'm not Robert. Who the hell is Robert?"

"Look, Robert, this isn't funny! I mean, first Mr. Flopsy tried to betray me, then a giant winged frog broke a date with me... I don't need this now! I don't I don't I don't!" Athena ended her statement with a Psycho Uppercut that sent Dan flying over the "ropes" and on top of Jokey Smurf's house in Smurf Village. Unfortunately,  
that was where Jokey stored all his _presents_.

_**BOOOM**_

Papa Smurf shook his head in exasperation. "We have to send a delegation to this Rumble next year to make sure that they all land on Gargamel's house or something..."

"YOU! YOU! YOU!"

Wan-Fu, tiring of his sport, ended his assault on Riptor with a powerful Flaming Pillar Circle that sent the beast flying over the "ropes". The big lizard landed in Tung Fue Rue's stage in Fatal Fury Special. Tung noted that there was a dinosaur present. "It's not like the old days..." he muttered as he assumed his more muscular form,  
"then, when a dinosaur showed up, they'd show you some proper respect instead of just roaring..." He started hammering on Riptor with huge fists.

Kano threw a pair of knives at Haohmaru. However, the samurai expertly blocked with his katana, and ran at the Mortal Kombatant. Exactly what Kano had wanted: as Haohmaru ran in, he first slashed upwards with one of his stun batons, temporarily staggering Haohmaru, then used the time lapse to grab the Samurai Shodowner by the neck and start strangling him. After a suitably long time, he dropped Haohmaru.

Fingering his eyepiece to activate the laser mount, he grinned. "So, the high-an'-mighty one got beaten, eh? And by who? I'll tell ya who, mate. Me. Kano. The one-and-only."

Haohmaru replied by slashing upwards as he stood. Kano was staggered back this time...

...right into Wolf. The Virtua Fighter tripped Kano and started spinning him by the legs. Finishing off the Big Swing, he tossed Kano over the "ropes".

Kano fell through the warp field and landed, hard, on a big pyramid. He looked around. Nobody was present...except for the big orange hopping thing...which was hopping this way. Kano looked for a place to run, and saw no escape.

Up in the booth, Geese winced. "Ouch. Death by Q*Bert."

Meanwhile, Neinhalt Seiger and Colossus were warily circling one another. Neither struck first, each waiting for the other to strike the first blow. Unfortunately, Mai Shiranui (who had been getting pummelled for the last little bit, and was in a nasty mood) didn't seem quite as patient, and ran up to Seiger, quickly encircling his head between her legs and vaulting the giant Prussian over to the edge of the mat. Seiger, keeping his wits about him, managed to keep his gigantic metal fist out of the "ropes"... but it did no good, for Mai's Flame Fandango sent the Samurai Shodowner over them and right into the Rampart node, where he was quickly hit by four cannonballs in quick succession.

Galford was now a wreck. Pyron had forgotten about Haohmaru completely in his rage to destroy the American ninja. Countless burn marks marred the Shodowner's skin and clothes, and even Poppy sported some charcoal-coloured fur.

As Pyron prepared to deliver the coup de grace, Galford considered his options. Or, rather, option, as he could only think of one.

Pyron spun in with a final Fiery Planets, and incinerated... a log.

As Galford dove on the Darkstalker from above, he reflected on how useful this technique was. Burying his ninja-to in the alien's back, he watched with satisfaction as Pyron staggered. Pulling out his blade, he ignored the heat it had conducted through Pyron as he sheathed it; and grabbing Pyron, the fire on his palms was nothing more than an inconvenience as he tossed Pyron out.

Pyron landed in Venice in the KOF95 node, where he started screaming in pain. "AGGGGGGGH! WATER! I HATE WATER!" Clouds of steam were raised as Pyron screamed in torturous pain.

The newly entered Kagemaru was now the latest target of Wan-Fu's wrath. Having had little chance to counterattack, the ninja simply fell apart, his powerful long-distance attacks useless under Wan-Fu's mighty Pillar of Pain. Ending the torment with a flaming uppercut, he sent Kage sprawling out of the ring...and right into the Ninja Gaiden node, where his brother ninjas defended him for the next fifteen minutes.

Neo-Dio was now brawling with Colossus unsuccessfully. His new powers were crumbling beneath the X-Man's strength. A Power Charge by Colossus sent the World Hero flying back violently, intersecting with Wolf enroute. The collision between Neo-Dio and Wolf slowed Neo-Dio's flight, but transferred the inertia to Wolf...and the Virtua Fighter was knocked into the "ropes", where current began crackling across his bare skin.

Colossus ran up to Neo-Dio, and began his own Big Swing, culminating in Neo-Dio being tossed over the ropes. The World Hero landed in the WarBots node, where he was targeted and eliminated in 10.2 seconds.

Colossus looked at Wolf, now being kept up simply by the force jerking through his body, and pondered how best to eliminate him.

Unfortunately, he pondered for too long. Haohmaru, who had been busy with people trying to unseat him all the while, had run up behind him, and promptly Sogetsuzaned Colossus over the "ropes", managing to eliminate Wolf in the same motion. Both fighters landed in the Pit from the MK1 node. However, Colossus was still steel, so he crushed the spikes beneath him; and Wolf had the good fortune to land on Colossus.

Rose was dealing with two big problems: Chang Koehan and Lion. They were busily trying to eliminate her, having teamed up for mutual benefit. However, Rose was having none of it, and with one quick Scarf Snap knocked Lion out of the ring. The Virtua Fighter landed in Richard Meyer's stage in Fatal Fury, where he promptly began whaling on the Fatal Furite.

Michelle Chan was tiring against the Silver Samurai. The only swordsman-er, swords*bot* she'd ever fought was Yoshimitsu, and his style was much different. The Samurai just kept using his sword...never used his fists or kicked at her at all! How did you fight against someone with a sword anyway?

The Samurai suddenly hopped back and extended his sword in the air. Michelle, anticipating another lightning attack, prepared to block. However, nothing happened... his sword just suddenly acquired a thin layer of ice.

Michelle, seeing her chance, ran forward. "So, your sucky sword couldn't make the spark this time, huh?"

One swipe from the Samurai froze Michelle in her tracks, quite literally. "Well, I wasn't trying." He grabbed her and tossed her over the "ropes". "And I don't suck!"

Michelle, ice flying off in flight downward, landed-hard-on a plateau of rock. She got up painfully and looked around. It was barren, except for pockets of shifting sand.

Birdman shook his head. "Looks like Michelle Chan got off easy. All she had to worry about was the desert from Super-Mario 3..."

Rose was finishing off the huge Chang Koehan, whose huge iron ball was no match for her scarf. Stepping back, she blinked suddenly, and activated her Super Uppercut. Blue after-images trailed her as she slammed the huge Korean upwards and over the "ropes".

Chang landed in the Burger Time node. He got up and looked around.

"I'm in heaven!"

* * *

_Original Authors_

Chris "Birdman" Bird  
Brant Rogers  
Scott Johnson  
Austin Loomis


	10. Section 5

**Section Five**

Birdman leaned back in his chair. Geese Howard was gone, claiming "other duties". Birdman couldn't help but wonder what those were. Anyway, his new broadcast partner was supposed to be arriving soon.

Suddenly, a puff of smoke appeared in the empty chair next to Birdman, and Reptile appeared in it.

"So. You're my new broadcast partner?"

"It would appear ssso."

* * *

**"GORO DAIMON!"** (King of Fighters '95)

Goro strode down to the ring, almost late. He had had his attention diverted by the eight-lane bowling alley in the lower levels of the RumbleDome Hotel. Truly, it was a fine bowling alley.

* * *

**"FUUMA!"** (World Heroes Perfect)

Fuuma was raving to himself.

"Oh, _right_. Of course! Hanzou gets off easy, with a late draw! I get a crap draw! Why? Because everybody loves Hanzou! Hanzou Hanzou Hanzou! I HATE HIM! But that's why I sold my soul! Hey, it's worth it, if people like me better than Hanzou!"

Birdman turned to Reptile. "You know anything about this soul-selling business?"

"Nothing. I know nothing. Have I mentioned how great a leader Ssshao Kahn is? All praissse the Kahn and his wisssdom."

* * *

**"CHAM CHAM!"** (Samurai Showdown 2)

Birdman grumbled. "Which reminds me. When is Tam Tam going to fulfill his contract? He owes me two appearances still in this booth."

* * *

**"T.J. COMBO!"** (Killer Instinct)

Lucky Glauber, with a front row seat, yelled at Combo. "Hey, where's Balrog, huh? I mean, you only stole half his moves, not to mention his wardrobe!"

Meanwhile, Bison, watching on an extension, muttered. "Balrog. The name is familiar..."

"A minor supplicant who wished to join Shadoloo, master." Birdie groveled.

"Allow him admittance when we return. He apparently has a reputation."

"Yes, master."

Bison was lost in thought for a moment. "We have had little success, have we, Birdie? After all... Sodom eliminated but one, and Akuma proved himself unable to defeat the supercharged samurai."

Birdie groveled some more. "You can do it all by yourself, master. No one can compare to the power of Bison!"

Bison nodded. "Correct. But I believe we require some help. We can always betray them later..." He turned to the Shadoloo trooper. "Go find that Shao Kahn fellow. Tell him Bison wishes an alliance."

* * *

**"SAISHU KUSANAGI!"** (King of Fighters '95)

Looking up to the stands, Saishu beckoned to Kyo. "You cannot resist the power of the Dark Side, Kyo. Turn, and join me in eternal conquest!"

Kyo held his hand tightly. "I'll never turn! Never!"

* * *

**"SEKTOR!"** (Mortal Kombat 3)

"Attention all units. Sub-Zero is currently not present. Thus, all units on subdirective "Target Sub-Zero" will implement a mutual protection pattern until Sub-Zero arrives."

* * *

**"ADON!"** (Street Fighter Alpha)

"Heeheeheeheeheeheeheehee! I'm the BEST Muay Thai there is! The BEST! I'm the fastest and the deadliest and the most good-looking and..."

Joe Higashi interrupted. "Look, you **suck** compared to me! As soon as you deal with that, the better!"

"Oh, yeah? Which one of us is Eliminated?"

Joe fumed.

* * *

**"LEIF!"** (Time Killers)

"OOOOOOODINNNNN!"

The crowd cheered. Erick looked angry.

* * *

**"HEAVY D!"** (King of Fighters '94)

Sure, working at King's bar in London had been fun, Heavy D! mused. But he _missed_ fighting. He'd only quit because Lucky had gone off to do other things and Brian had gone back to football. Of course, the rumour was that King was looking for new partners-ones that could actually drink a good deal, as opposed to Mai and Yuri. And heck, he was interested...even if the other fighter being considered was Duck King.

Of course, none of this mattered now. Haohmaru had to be protected. Why, Heavy didn't really understand, except that it seemed to be a lot like "Star Wars" for some reason. But, apparently he was on the side of the good guys. Which suited him fine.

* * *

**"SABREWULF!"** (Killer Instinct)

Nothing happened. After a while, people started to get antsy.

Birdman turned to the com. "Brant? What happened?"

"Damned if I know...he should have showed up..."

* * *

**"JON TALBAIN!"** (Darkstalkers 2)

The answer to Sabrewulf's disappearance came ten seconds later, with Jon Talbain slashing Sabrewulf as the two rolled over one another, clawing and biting.

Birdman grinned. "And there you have it...apparently those two _really_ hate one another..."

* * *

**"HANZO HATTORI!"** (Samurai Showdown 2)

The ninja strode down. Noting his counterpart, Galford, he saluted briefly before getting down to business.

and, the final fighter of this section:

* * *

**"DURAL!"** (Virtua Fighter 2)

"ELIMINATE TARGET SUB-ZERO. TARGET IS NOT PRESENT. SAVE COMMAND FOR FURTHER USE."

Meanwhile, in the stands, Morrigan was recieving a mental message from Pyron.

"But Pyron..."

"No buts. You can go after Sakazaki later. Right now, the wrestler, Wolf Hawkfield, is our biggest concern. He eliminated several fighters trying to attack Haohmaru. One can only assume he knows. Get him out of the picture before he tells anybody."

Morrigan looked up and down at the recently arrived Virtua Fighter, noting the powerful musculature. She licked her lips. "Mind if I do it... my way?"

"I don't care, as long as he isn't doing anything to stop us."

"Mmmmmmm. Good." She glided over to Wolf serenely and plopped herself on his lap. "Hellooooooo."

Wolf was suddenly embarrassed. "Um, maybe you should get off."

"I was planning to."

Wolf didn't catch the double meaning. He rarely did in these situations. "Well, any time now..."

"But I like it here. You're comfy. And soft..." She stretched out, catlike, on him. "Of course, there's no reason to do this in public... we could go elsewhere and..." her voice dropped low as she began whispering in his ear. Wolf began to blush.

"Well?"

"Ummmm..."

"Good! Come on!" With that, she stood up, grabbed his hand, and led him off. Wolf went, dumbfounded.

However, Ryo had noticed this. Part of him was glad - _damn_ glad - that Morrigan had turned her attentions away from him. But another part of him was suspicious.

"Mmmmmmmmm." Wolf and Morrigan were now in one of the sub-basements, and he was holding her tightly. Morrigan laid her head on his shoulder.

"Kiss me there, would you?" She rubbed her neck against his shoulder, clearly inviting him in. Wolf complied, and Morrigan wriggled in delight.

Wolf was in seventh heaven. Sure, maybe she was one of the bad guys. But maybe she was reformed out of love for him. Hey, it worked as far as he was concerned. And he was _really_ enjoying this.

Morrigan was enjoying it as well, but she firmly believed in mixing business with pleasure. Extending her fangs, she pounced on Wolf's neck and began to drink. Wolf was suddenly consumed by a pleasure that was almost agonizing. Instantly, he knew that he was now Morrigan's slave... and that he liked it.

The pleasure was equally intense for Morrigan. Groping his body as she drank her fill, she prepared for the after-event (which was no less important, but didn't provide sustenance).

"HAOHSHOHKOHKEN!"

A huge wave of energy suddenly slammed into both of them, disrupting the pleasantries. Ryo Sakazaki stood a short distance away. "Wolf! Geez, get away! She's a vampire..." He trailed off as he saw the blood dribbling down Morrigan's chin. He also saw Wolf looking at him with nothing but anger in his eyes.

Morrigan grimaced. "You know, I _was_ going to make you my love slave...I can never have too many. But now, I'm mad. I'm just going to kill you, and drink you dry, and let Wolfy have the bones."

"Riiiiight." The voice was Janne's. Hefting her broadsword, she walked forward to stand with Ryo. She was still armorless, but Nakoruru's spare purple outfit fit her nicely.

Ryo looked at her. "What are _you_ doing here?"

Janne muttered back, "When I saw you follow Morrigan voluntarily, I knew something was up..."

As a Soul Fist shot out toward them, both fighters prepared for an intense, possibly draining fight.

WHO WILL LIVE?  
WHO WILL DIE?  
WHO WILL BE THE NEXT CONVERT TO THE DARK SIDE?

* * *

_Original Authors_

Chris "Birdman" Bird  
Brant Rogers  
Scott Johnson  
Austin Loomis


	11. Section 5 - Results

**Section Five - Results**

Goro entered the ring and saw Athena standing, swaying a bit from side to side. Concerned (mistake #1) he strode over.

"Friend Athena!" he boomed. "Is something the matter?"

Athena only mumbled. "The colours, man... the colours..."

Goro decided to try shouting louder (mistake #2). "ATHENA! ARE YOU ALL RIGHT?"

Athena snapped out of it for a second. "Huh?" She looked at Goro. After squinting a bit, she nodded. "So, _that's_ your game, is it, Mister Demon Monkey? Hmmmmm?"

Goro was confused, and didn't hide it (mistake #3). "What are you talking about, friend Athena?"

"Oh, don't play coy with me! You're a demon monkey here to steal people's souls! Being all innocent and stuff won't make you into not a bloodthirsty demon!" She ended her harangue with a Psycho Barrier that materialized in front of Goro, knocking him over the "ropes" when he failed to block (mistake #4).

Goro landed in Smurf Village. Clumsy was confused. "Ah, gee, Papa Smurf, why're these, uh, humans and stuff landin' in our village?"

As Fuuma entered, he saw Haohmaru. "The _old_ Fuuma would've run from Haohmaru! But the NEW Fuuma can beat up anybody, just because he's so loved by his fans! Right, fans?"

There was actually a loud cheer. Fuuma was slightly surprised, even though that's what he'd asked for when he sold his soul. (Of course, the cheer was actually for Haohmaru's deliverance of a powerful slash to Galford's chest.) Emboldened, he ran forward and punched Haohmaru in the back. The samurai, not even affected, turned.

"HA! PERHAPS YOU WOULD CARE TO EXPLAIN WHY YOU HAVE ATTEMPTED (AND FAILED) TO DELIVER A DEVASTATING KIDNEY PUNCH TO MY BACK, INSTEAD OF DOING THE HONORABLE (AND, DARE I SAY IT, LEGENDARY) THING AND CHALLENGING ME TO MY FACE? AFTER ALL, SURELY ONE SUCH AS YOURSELF KNOWS THAT I, THAT IS ME, HAOHMARU, AM FAIR, JUST, AND PERFECTLY WILLING TO GRANT A QUICK DEATH SHOULD I FATALLY WOUND YOU (AS I SO OFTEN DO)!"

"Um." Fuuma ran for his life as Cham Cham entered.

* * *

**Sub-Basement 291-AXG**

Ryo hit the wall again. Wolf was slamming him against the concrete with every ounce of might he had (which was to say, tons).

It had seemed so simple. One Haohshohkohken would restore Wolf to his senses, and then they could take out Morrigan. And Janne had come along, so she would have helped out, too.

Unfortunately, Wolf was now Morrigan's willing slave. And Morrigan wanted Ryo in a kind of dead way. So, Ryo was getting his ass handed to him in a bucket.

Takuma's voice intruded. _Son. Look, I spent a hell of a lot of time training you, and it's not going to go to waste. When Wolf charges you with his clothesline, duck it and uppercut him. Then Haohshohkohken him as he rises. That'll be enough to stun him for a bit, then you can go help Janne take out Morrigan and maybe _that'll  
_return him to his senses._

Ryo, for quite possibly the very first time in his life, was glad that his father had managed to scar his psyche so much that he heard Takuma's voice in his head.

As Wolf charged forward, Ryo ducked. Wolf's clothesline went right over his head. Thrusting upwards with his knees as he turned around, Ryo delivered a powerful uppercut to the Virtua Fighter's back. Wolf sprawled down on his chest.

Ryo sprang backwards a few feet, then summoned the most powerful Haohshohkohken he could. It slammed into the rising Wolf and sent the wrestler sprawling again, knocking him back down to the ground, where he lay motionless except for a low groan.

Ryo suddenly noticed something. Wolf's groan wasn't the only one in the room...

Turning around, he tripped over Janne's broadsword, lying on the ground. As he lay on the ground, he looked over to see Janne writhing in ecstasy, only a couple of feet away, as Morrigan's mouth was clamped on her neck firmly. Janne's moans would have been arousing in virtually any other scenario, but here, now, they completely terrified Ryo.

Ryo got up to his feet and grabbed Morrigan. Pulling with all his might, he managed to disengage the two women, shoving Morrigan a few feet away from Janne, where she collided with a steel pipe and hit the floor hard. Janne, freed of Morrigan's embrace, slumped forward into Ryo's arms. Breathing heavily, she looked into Ryo's eyes.

"Oh, Ryo..." she murmured, and, with surprising strength, grabbed his head with one free arm and forced his mouth on hers in a powerful, aggressive kiss.

Ryo actually started to respond for half-a-moment, but then remembered the situation and pulled away. Janne didn't seem to notice, but laid her head against his chest. Ryo was suddenly acutely aware of her body against his. _Very_ acutely aware.

She started talking dreamily. "Oh, Ryo, you _have_ to try it. It's so good... I've had good sex before, but nothing like that... and maybe we could do it together... she has two fangs, right...?"

Ryo was horrified. Pulling Janne to her feet, he looked into her slightly glazed eyes. "Janne! She's a freaking VAMPIRE!"

Janne looked slightly unhappy. "You don't want to..."

"Not like this I don't! I mean, she's like... um... damn..." Ryo's famed elocution skills failed him. "She's bad! Okay? BAD!"

Janne looked disappointed. "All right..."

Ryo was ecstatic. "Thank god I got through to you!"

He was then in pain, as Janne fiercely kicked him with a high sweeping kick that connected with his jaw. Staggering back, he saw the same furious hatred he'd seen in Wolf's eyes not ten minutes ago. As Janne reached down for her broadsword, Ryo prepared to sidestep the oncoming slash...

...and was hit by a shoulder rush from Wolf, full in the back. Ryo sprawled forward and barely managed to keep his balance. Turning around to meet the new attacker, he launched a Hohken, which stunned Wolf momentarily but failed to neutralize the Soul Fist Morrigan had shot at him from midair, or the Power Slash Janne had cut up his back with.

Ryo wondered how Takuma would handle this, and unfortunately couldn't come up with any other answer than "losing badly".

* * *

**The Ring**

T.J. Combo and Saishu Kusanagi had entered the ring two minutes apart, and both had made it their mission to pummel Haohmaru. Knowing that their masters were allied (for the time being, anyway), the two worked in unison. A Roll Punch from Combo was combined with a aerial kick from Saishu. A Crackling Rush from Saishu was preceded by a Combo Punch from, well, Combo.

Haohmaru, being Haohmaru, did what he normally did: block the attacks, counterattack, and shout loudly. "EVEN THOUGH YOU MAY COMBINE YOUR ATTACKS AGAINST ME (AND I NOTE THAT I HAVE MADE A LEGENDARY PUN WITH "COMBINE" AND THE ONE OF YOU KNOWN AS "COMBO"! HAHAHA!) I SHALL CONTINUE TO REMAIN TRIUMPHANT IN MY QUEST TO REMAIN CHAMPION FOR A SECOND YEAR! FOR MINE IS THE WARRIOR'S WAY, THE NOMAD'S WAY, THE SUPERMARKET SAFEWAY!"

Sektor, newly arrived, noted that the Silver Samurai had been using a sword which froze its victims. "Posit: fighter known as Silver Samurai may be Sub-Zero in disguise. Possibility measurement: 3.7%. Recommended course of action: destroy Silver Samurai as precautionary measure."

Launching a Teleport Punch into the Samurai's back, Sektor watched as the Samurai fell on his face. "Posit: opponent is possessed of a low degree of fighting skill."

The Samurai rushed to his feet. "Did you just say that I suck?"

Sektor pondered this. "Suck. Verb. A) Inhale, vacuum, lick... incorrect meaning. B) Reek, blow chunks, be lousy... correct meaning. Reply: Your assertion is correct."

"AGGGGGGGGGGGGH! I! DO! NOT! SUCK!" The Samurai started slashing Sektor rapidly. His sword danced all over the roboninja, piercing numerous key pipelines. The Mortal Kombatant collapsed, quivering. The Samurai then picked up the fallen Sektor and tossed him over the side.

Sektor landed in the AD&amp;D Tower of Doom node. Nothing much happened.

Adon was newly entered in the fray, and decided to go attack Haohmaru as Bison had ordered him. Suddenly, he saw Haohmaru launch into a Sogetsuzan, knocking both T.J. Combo and Saishu Kusanagi over the "ropes". He changed his mind. Some *other* sucker could go weaken Haohmaru...

Combo and Saishu landed near Sektor, in the AD&amp;D Tower of Doom node. Saishu looked around. "Where the hell are we?"

* * *

**Room 495, RumbleDome Hotel**

"**Enter.**" Shao Kahn stated imperiously.

"Good to meet you." Bison nodded.

"**It is good to see you once again.**" Kahn replied.

M. Bison entered the Kahn's suite, with Sagat and Birdie at his side, as well as twenty Shadoloo troopers, all armed with the latest in laser weaponry. Of course, these were only the pistols. The rifles had been left up in Bison's suite...it wouldn't do to carry them around and alert UVR security.

Bison looked at the Kahn. "I believe we can dispense with the preliminaries?"

Shao Kahn nodded. "**Agreed.**" He gazed at Bison steadily. "**So, you wish an alliance with my forces. How interesting. Why should I accept?**"

"Haohmaru's soul is big enough to share between two, is it not? We require each other's forces. Together, we are strong. Apart... we are not strong enough."

"**Speak not to me of strength, mortal. Look at Motaro.**" The Centauran stepped forward at his name's utterance. "**He is strong, fast, a match for twenty fighters, and my spells now protect him against any projectile any fighter here can summon up. I have fifty more Centaurans here with me, not enchanted as he is, but still a match for any fighter. What do I need you for?**"

Bison snorted. "Blade, if you would be so kind...?" A Shadoloo trooper stood forward. "Granted, my men aren't as tough as your mighty monsters. But they're still a worthy match of any fighter in this RumbleDome. And I have three hundred of them here with me, as befits the leader of a nation."

"**Insignificant. We both know that this contest for Haohmaru's soul will be determined by the elite.**"

"Exactly. Which is why we need to band together now. Our elites - and I don't mean your beasts - together, could win this for us.  
As it stands, right now Number 27 and Rugal are almost certainly working together, I'm sure. There's also Mizuki to consider, and Pyron."

Shao Kahn was silent for a moment. Then, grudgingly: "**You have a point.**"

"So, are we allies, then?"

"**Very well. On this day, we band together to garner power which shall be shared equally between our respective selves. Prepare your rituals, as I will prepare mine. Once Haohmaru is eliminated, the spellwork can begin.**"

Bison nodded. "Until the coming of our eras."

After Bison left, Shang Tsung looked at the Kahn. "I can't believe he bought that."

"**Fools are given to stupidity. He was so concerned that I would doublecross him that he forgot that I might lie about how we will garner Haohmaru's soul. Elimination means nothing. It is only a means to the end-in this case, capturing him alive.**"

"And then the sacrifice..."

"**And the dawning of the age of Shao Kahn.**"

Out in the hallways heading back to Bison's suite, Sagat spoke up. "Well, can we trust him?"

Bison grunted. "Of course not. He was looking at me warily, and he let slip that he'd met my future self before. He's planning to betray me before I can betray him." He smiled nastily. "Of course, that isn't going to happen."

* * *

**The Ring**

Leif was having a tough time with Galford. His axe seemed a clumsy, brutish thing compared to the smooth, clean strikes of the Samurai Shodowner.

Of course, brutishness plays a part in any confrontation, and Leif proved this when he chopped off Galford's arm with an incredibly lucky strike.

Both fighters stopped and stared at the stump. Galford was almost in shock. Leif was too, but not a painful sort of shock.

Galford looked at Leif. "I'm gonna get you for that." With a firm thrust kick, he made good on his threat, sending Lief over the top. Leif landed in the AD&amp;D Tower of Doom node, where an increasing number of fighters were sitting around.

Heavy D!, newly entered, saw Fuuma hurling flights of shuriken at Haohmaru. This was a bad thing. Sprinting over to the ninja, he quickly delivered an R.S.D. which sent the World Hero spinning into the ropes. The newly electrified Fuuma staggered around until Heavy D! hit him again, this time with a Soul Flower which knocked Fuuma out of the ring and into AD&amp;D Tower of Doom (right on top of Leif).

D! barely managed to sidestep the clawing, tumbling, snarling heap that was Sabrewulf and Jon Talbain. Adon, busily blocking Rose's fireballs, was not as lucky, and was sent flying right into his Alpha Streeter companion. Rose retaliated with a Scarf Snap that sent Adon flying out of the ring.

Adon looked around when he landed. Geez, _everybody_ was landing here. Noting that a few fighters were busy having a bitch session about Haohmaru, he strolled over to join in.

* * *

**Sub-Basement 291-AXG**

Ryo groaned.

Not in pleasure, mind. At this point, Ryo was seriously wondering how stupid he was. He _could_ have just gone over to Morrigan, after all, and had a good time, and not be in pain, and...

...and be a goddamn zombie like Janne and Wolf, who were currently both nuzzling Morrigan, one on each side. No. He was glad he had fought.

Ryo lay before the succubus' feet. His entire body was bruised from head to toe. One eye was starting to swell shut. Burn marks dotted his face and shoulders, and his gi had been slashed to bits above the waist.

He couldn't move right now, even if the thought of further physical punishment hadn't been keeping him still.

Purring kittenishly, Morrigan smiled at him. "See? I always get what I want. And all I want is everything. I want the most beautiful people to be my lovers. I want the most challenging opponents to defeat. I want it all. Unfortunately, you got in the way of that. So I had to destroy you. You aren't going to be a factor in this battle now, Ryo."

The haze of pain cleared for a second. "Battle?... What... battle?"

Janne raised her mouth from where she had been kissing Morrigan's shoulder devoutly. "Shall we kill him, Mistress?"

Morrigan patted Janne on the head. "I drink some of your blood and you have a thirst for his?" She smiled again. "We don't have to kill the sorry excuse for a hero. We'll just let him sit down here and know that he failed to stop my taking over your minds and hearts, which leads Pyron one step closer to control of Haohmaru's soul..." She looked down one last time at Ryo.

"Goodbye, failure." With that, she glided off serenely, Janne and Wolf in tow. He could hear her talking as they left. "So, Wolf...who exactly is working to protect Haohmaru anyway? You were saying something about..."

As her voice faded, Ryo's last reason for remaining conscious faded with it, and he passed out from the pain of lying there.

* * *

**The Ring**

The Sabrewulf/Jon Talbain tussle had been broken up by Wan-Fu in traditional style (yelling "YOU!" and pounding a werewolf at random-it turned out to be Jon Talbain-with the Pillar of Pain). Sabrewulf was now attacking Mai Shiranui fiercely, unlashing with a sixteen-hit combo that sent her reeling a bit. She retaliated with a quick Flame Fandango that knocked the Instinctive Killer for a loop.

Meanwhile, Jon Talbain was busy ducking and dodging Wan-Fu's swipes with the Pillar of Pain, looking for an opportunity to claw the King of China senseless.

It came when Wan-Fu drew the Pillar back for a mammoth blow. Jon quickly leapt forward and slashed wild rakes across Wan-Fu's stomach. The Samurai Shodowner grunted in pain, pausing long enough to allow Jon the chance to Hotfoot the mighty King of China over the "ropes" and through the field. Wan-Fu landed where everybody had been landing recently: the AD&amp;D Tower of Doom node.

Up in the control booth, Birdman switched on the com unit. "Brant... how come they keep ending up there? It's not very riveting television just to watch them lie around for a while and chat."

"The field meters indicate that there's going to be such massive danger there shortly, that it's redirecting all other nodal transfers there!"

"English?"

"You'll be getting boffo ratings in a few minutes if you're lucky."

"Okay." Birdman clicked off the com and switched on his com unit, trying to think of some way to make Mai Shiranui's tossing of Sabrewulf into the TOD node seem interesting.

Suddenly, the Cleric and the Elf ran by all the fighters gathered in the TOD node. Looking at the gathering, the Cleric yelled "RUN!" then proceeded to follow his own advice, trailing a small cloud of smoke as he went.

Saishu looked at the pair. "I wonder what that was all about...?"

Combo laughed. "I dunno, but whatever it was, we can probably take care of it. I mean, we're tough."

As Combo said that, a gigantic red dragon landed behind him. Everybody started running, with the exception of Wan-Fu. As the dragon directed a gout of flame at the runners (incinerating them all), Wan-Fu hoisted up the Pillar of Pain.

"YOU!" And he lunged forward.

The two most recent entrants to the Rumble were duking it out, toe-to-toe. Dural was flailing badly against Hanzo, whose sword was something the Virtua Fighter simply wasn't programmed for. With a quick grab, the Samurai Shodowner vaulted the both of them upwards and then down, landing in a flaming Strike Hez that nearly melted the bonds of cohesion Dural needed to remain solid. A goopy Dural was easy prey for Hanzo, who tossed it over the ropes and into Terminator 2, where a spray of liquid nitrogen froze Dural, then tipped it over and shattered it into a million pieces.

Of course, nobody saw this, because everybody was watching Wan-Fu singlehandedly beat the crap out of the feared Tower of Doom red dragon. The dragon was whimpering something about halflings as Wan-Fu continued his onslaught. "YOU! YOU! YOU! YOU!"

Jon Talbain, meanwhile, was taking easy care of Cham Cham and Pakupaku, first grabbing the monkey and tossing it over the side, then Hotfooting Cham Cham into the Bust-A-Move node. The little dragons looked at her. Cham Cham felt inadequate: before this nobody had ever outcuted her before...

* * *

**Eliminated Seating**

Charlotte felt a bitter stab of jealousy run through her heart as Morrigan re-entered the Eliminated seating with Janne and Wolf following her, both obviously having just had an intimate moment with her. The three sat down on a large bench, Wolf leaning against the wall and the two ladies leaning against him.

Charlotte fought to control her anger at fate. _How is it just that she has two and I cannot even garner my one? Where is the fairness in that?_

Wait. There were _three_ of them. Where was the Sakazaki boy?

Charlotte answered her own question as she noticed specks of blood on Janne's blade.

The noblewoman stood. Her course was clear... she had to go find Sakazaki if he still lived, and help him out. If he was dead, she would have to revenge him on his killers...

* * *

_Original Authors_

Chris "Birdman" Bird  
Brant Rogers  
Scott Johnson  
Austin Loomis


	12. Section 6

**Section Six**

**Room 595, RumbleDome Hotel**

Sie Kensou was gasping. "I can't believe we pulled it off!"

Captain Kidd grinned as he held up Jago's soul vial. "Yep. You have the makings of an excellent thief, by the way..."

* * *

**The Ring**

**"ANAKARIS!"** (Darkstalkers 2)

The undead Egyptian pharaoh floated forward, as he was prone to do. As he surveyed the ring, he saw Morrigan cavorting with a pair of new slaves. He snorted. Would she never tire of such sport? He hadn't had such urges for nearly two thousand years...

* * *

**"GUY!"** (Street Fighter Alpha)

A huge cheer went up as Guy ran at top speed down to the ring, jumped in, and started kicking everyone in sight.

* * *

**"SHAO KAHN!"** (Mortal Kombat 3)

As Shao Kahn entered the ring, he surveyed his opponents. Unsurprisingly, none of them proved a threat, being so small and puny. He began to move towards Haohmaru.

Suddenly, from out of his line of vision, Heavy D! appeared. "Excuse me. I can't let you attack him. Nothing personal."

Shao Kahn stared angrily at Heavy D! Heavy just stared back impassively.

The Kahn was mildly confused. Everyone else cowered when he looked down upon them...

Then it hit him.

You see, the thing to realize about Shao Kahn is that he's seven-foot-four. When you're seven-foot-four, you grow used to staring down at people. In his whole reign, the Kahn had never had to fight anyone as tall as he was. When he had invaded Earth, there had been a couple of tall people; but none were muscular. They were all beanpoles.

However, Heavy D! was seven-two (seven-three with his mohawk), and just as impressively muscled as the Kahn was. In short, Shao Kahn _couldn't_ look down upon him. The Kahn felt himself growing angry. How **DARE** anyone be as powerful as he was?

Heavy D! interrupted his anger with a powerful R.S.D. and their fight began in earnest.

* * *

**"OMEGA RED!"** (X-Men: Children of the Atom)

Birdman spoke into the mike. "The Rumble **has**, repeat, **has** ordered a temporary viral antidote to Omega Red's death spores. Thus, he is no longer a threat. So, will those of you in the front row with gas masks please put them away?"

* * *

**Room 119, RumbleDome Hotel**

Ukyo Tachibana lay in his bed. A small sputter of blood dotted his sheets. It was a particularly good morning for him-he had only coughed up blood once. Although he felt another one coming on.

Ukyo closed his eyes in an attempt to grit out the horrid sensation that always was present when he spat up his own blood. Every time, he tried this meditation technique.

It never worked.

Ukyo groaned as he looked at his sheets. Good thing the Rumble provided clean bedding.

"Dying's a bitch, ain't it?"

Ukyo snapped his head up. Mizuki stood there, stroking her Demon Dog's neck as it rested at her side.

"How did you get in here?"

"Unimportant, really. I mean, you're _dying_, Ukyo. Dead. Nada. Kaput. That's it. Finito. No more rope."

"You're terribly observant."

"Anyway. Why I'm here."

"Oh, this ought to be good. What are you going to do? Gloat?"

"Hardly." Mizuki paused. "How would you like to be made well? No more TB, no more blood coughing, the whole nine yards."

Ukyo looked at her silently. "This is not funny."

"No, it isn't. I'm being deadly serious. You can have your health back... in exchange for your soul."

Ukyo considered this. "Doesn't seem fair."

"Oh, really? You won't live another two years, Ukyo. Sell your soul, and you'll get what you desire most: your health. Imagine being able to dance with your princess again... I know you can't do that anymore, you're too weak. I must admit, I never understood how you could continue fighting..."

Ukyo remained silent.

"What could you possibly want more than to be healthy again?"

Ukyo looked at her. "My honor, perhaps? My answer is no."

"Certain about that?"

Ukyo looked at her steadily. "Positive."

She shrugged. "Fair enough..." She turned and walked to the door. On her way out, she called, "I dearly hope you enjoy your last couple of years..."

Ukyo stared at the door as it closed, and then at the blood on his sheets, and thought.

* * *

**The Ring**

**"SAWADA!"** (Street Fighter: The Movie)

Birdman switched off the mike. "No-good weasel. Couldn't he have stayed out of the Rumble like a good peon?"

* * *

**"BROCKEN!"** (World Heroes Perfect)

Brocken looked about, fire in his eyes. "HEY! Sub-Zero! I'm gonna get you! I'm gonna get you and bomb the hell out of you! I'm waiting!"

* * *

**"TAKUMA SAKAZAKI!"** (King of Fighters '95)

Takuma strode forward. Noting Annie Hamilton from Power Instinct in the front row, he handed her a card. "That's my son's phone number. He's somewhat shy, but really a nice sort..."

* * *

**Sub-Basement 291-AXG**

Charlotte came upon the unconscious Ryo Sakazaki and gasped in shock at the horrendous toll that had been done on his body. Running over to him, she immediately touched his forehead. "Ryo? Are you awake?"

Ryo's eyelids fluttered. He muttered, "S'okay...only hurts when I breathe..."

"We've got to get you to the infirmary right now." She started picking him up.

Ryo groaned. "No...no time. Gotta stop Morrigan...crazy woman says someone's after Haohmaru..."

Charlotte looked at him sharply. "What are you talking about?"

* * *

**The Ring**

**"CYCLOPS!"** (X-Men: Children of the Atom)

The leader of the X-Men ran forward and double-super-jumped into the ring from nearly forty feet away.

Birdman blinked. "I didn't know that that was one of his mutant powers..."

* * *

**"SMOKE!"** (Mortal Kombat 3)

Loud boos rung out as Smoke strode down. The cries of "Cheap" and "Cheese" rung through the air.

* * *

**"CAFFEINE NICOTINE!"** (Samurai Showdown 2)

"Haohmaru! I'm comin', boy! Don't worry! I can correct those flaws in your fighting style like _that_!"

and, the final fighter of this section...

* * *

**"YOSHIMITSU!"** (Tekken 2)

Yoshimitsu provided his own commentary as he walked down to ring.

"Yes, it's the Yoshimitsu 2000! This remarkable unit slices! Dices! And, after disemboweling a fighter," he stabbed Brian Battler to demonstrate, "it's still sharp enough to cut through this tomato!"

Jumping into the ring, Yoshimitsu was accosted by Smoke. "Unit is mechanical/electronic but unit is not operating on target protocols installed by unit LK-53. Disassemble and solve."

Yoshimitsu responded to Smoke's punch with an attack of his own. "You know, Ward, I'm really worried about the Beaver. I mean, he keeps coming up to me and trying to disassemble me. What can I do?" "Well, June, there appears to be only one solution...we'll have to gut the poor kid." With which Yoshimitsu sliced at Smoke's intake vents.

* * *

**Room 595, RumbleDome Hotel**

Captain Kidd looked up at the grate they had entered this room by; a room on the same floor as Number 27. "Okay. Let's get back. We've rested up more than long enough."

"I agree." A new voice spoke up.

Kidd and Kensou whirled around. Iori Yagumi stood there, purplish energy crackling in one hand.

"Now, you've stolen something, and the man currently employing me wants it back. Thus, I'm going to take it back. Beating the two of you into a pulp is not necessary, but I will do it, and enjoy it, if you leave me no other option."

Kidd snorted. "Right. Two of us, one of you? You're awfully overconfident..."

Iori shook his head, smiling all the while. "That's why I brought help." He stepped forward, and Cinder stepped in behind him.

"So, now that we've evened things up a tad...well, first let's destroy that camera..." he sent a gout of the energy up at the security camera in the hallway, which exploded instantly- "and now we can play..."

WHO WILL LIVE?  
WHO WILL DIE?  
WILL RYO CONTINUE TO BE A FACTOR IN THE DRAMA?

* * *

_Original Authors_

Chris "Birdman" Bird  
Brant Rogers  
Scott Johnson  
Austin Loomis


	13. Section 6 - Results

**Section Six - Results**

**The Ring**

As Anakaris floated into the ring, Rose ran over to him.

The mummy paused. "You seem familiar..."

"We met at the sorcery convention last year...I gave that speech on "Thaumaturgy And It's Use In Funky Hairstyles"...?"

"Ah, yes. I remember. Excellent to see you again. Now, if you wil excuse me, I must go after Haohmaru...always go after the ex-champion, as Rameses said..."

"No!" Rose caught him and began whispering into his ear.

Guy had also entered during this seminar, and, waving to his comrades in the fight for all the Multiverse, quickly ran over and spinkicked the Silver Samurai.

Meanwhile, Hanzo and Haohmaru were dueling back and forth.

"Haohmaru, you may be powerful, but I have finesse on my side. And guile. Let's not (CLANG!) forget the guile. It's important."

"HA! GUILE? GUILE? DO YOU NOT REFER TO THE LEGENDARY STREET FIGHTER? WHERE IS HE?" Haohmaru briefly paused in fighting to crane his neck about.

Hanzo took this opportunity to quickly slash across Haohmaru's chest. "No, not the fighter! I mean cunning! Stealth! Ninjitsu! All that sort of thing! You know, sneaking up on people and letting people Choretsudan logs and disappearing! *That* sort of guile! You follow me?"

Haohmaru nodded. "INDEED I DO! HOWEVER, YOU ARE NO MATCH FOR MY LEGENDARY WILINESS, FOR I HAVE TRICKED YOU INTO BELIEVING THAT YOUR PUNY SLASH ACTUALLY _HURT_ ME, WHEN IN FACT IT WAS NO MORE TO ME THAN A BRACING SHAVING CUT!" Haohmaru then Sogetsuzaned the ninja out of the ring.

Hanzo landed with a _thump_ on a flat, bland field. Suddenly, a strange storm appeared on the horizon... lines. Lots of lines... Hanzo suddenly realized that he couldn't run away fast enough to escape.

Birdman winced. "Death by Qix...yeesh."

* * *

**Room 595, RumbleDome Hotel**

Iori Yagumi swore under his breath.

He couldn't _believe_ that the moron Rugal had seen fit to give him Cinder as backup. Number 21 or whichever he was had brought out this flaming Human Torch ripoff with great fanfare. Iori had to admit, his initial impression was good, but after seeing Cinder fight...

Honestly. One punch was all Cinder was good for? He just _walked_ towards Captain Kidd without a thought in the world (did nobody _study_ their opponents anymore?), muttering something about a "Monster Combo", had punched Kidd once. Then, Kidd opened up a can of asskick: Spiral Kicks, Heel Kicks, Shark Knuckles, Shark Uppers.  
Cinder couldn't counter Kidd's attacks, and in ten seconds was collapsed on the ground, motionless except for the curtains he had set on fire.

Now, Iori had to deal with _both_ Sie Kensou and Captain Kidd. Both were capable fighters, although neither was his superior (but, then again, so few were...). This was irrelevant. There were two of them and one of him, and he couldn't dodge projectiles forever. The words "strategic retreat" rang loudly in his mind.

Jumping towards the door, he smiled. He was going to make it...

...until Kidd's Frenzied Shark Knuckle slammed into his back, gnawing madly at him. Iori fell, scrabbling at the door.

Rising to his feet quickly, Iori opened the door, revealing three security guards...one largish Italian and two vaguely catlike tanned people, one male, one female, somewhat alike.

The fight stopped immediately.

"Hokay... what's goin' on here?" The Italian had the nameband of "Nunzio."

Sie Kensou spoke up first. "They attacked us!"

Nunzio looked at Iori. "That true?"

Iori nodded. "However, I would like to point out that they stole something of importance from my employer..."

Nunzio looked at Kidd. "Well? _That_ true?"

Kidd mumbled.

Nunzio raised his voice. "SPEAK UP!"

"Ho! Yes, we did! Okay?"

"Hokay... here's what we're gonna do. You," pointing at Iori, "are gonna get your... whatever, and take your flaming buddy outta here... huh. He set some a the place on fire..." Nunzio spoke into his com unit.

"Yo, Tristan!"

"W-w-what? I'm b-b-busy right now on the all-l-luvial dampers..."

"No problem, buddypal... just send up a crew to room 595, we got us some fire damage here."

"F-f-fire damage? Who's been using f-f-fireballs?"

"Nobody... we gotta Killer Instinctive on da floor."

"Oooooh. Okay. No p-p-problem. I'll s-send up a crew p-p-pronto."

"Great. Nunzio out." Nunzio turned off his com unit. "Where was I? Oh, yeah. You are gonna take your flaming buddy outta here, and they are gonna give you what they took, and you will both live not very happily ever after."

Iori was furious. "They stole from us, and you let them off with a slap on the wrist?"

Nunzio nodded. "That's your punishment for not callin' us in." He looked at Kidd. "Give it over."

Kidd grudgingly pulled out a glowing green vial and tossed it offhandedly to Iori. Iori caught it smoothly, and (out of Nunzio's line of vision) mouthed the words "Nice try."

"Great. You, get him outta here." Nunzio turned back to Kidd and Sie. "Now, you two, where was you goin'?"

"The workout room..." muttered Sie.

"The workout room. How nice. Let us accompany you there. And, once we are there, we shall ask that you not leave it until you enter the Rumble, okeydoke?"

* * *

**The Ring**

Shao Kahn was just now receiving his first R.S.D. from Heavy D! Staggering backwards, he wiped his mouth. "**Fool. One blow, and you believe that you can defeat the likes of Shao Kahn? The scourge of the Outworld? The conqueror of Earth? The...**"

"Target of my fist..." muttered Heavy D! as he lunged forward. He was fully charged up and ready to deliver.

Birdman winced at the ensuing carnage. "Well, folks, you see one of the reasons Rugal is rumoured to have denied Team USA entry into the KOF95 tourney...the D! Crazy, or as it's more popularly known, the D!-Struction, also known as the most damaging move in six nodes. Reptile?"

"Ssshao Kahn can take it. Ssshao Kahn is invincible."

"No, 'Ssshao Kahn' is staggering, more like."

Which was true. The Kahn, no longer deemed a threat by Heavy D!, had staggered near to the ropes, barely conscious for about thirty seconds. Shaking his head to clear the butterflies, he turned and saw the Silver Samurai, and decided to get some of his respect back by demolishing him.

"**Pathetic tinfoil man...**"

The Silver Samurai turned.

"**You suck.**"

The Samurai began frothing at the mouth. Suddenly, six afterimages appeared behind him, and all the Samurai ran over to Shao Kahn. "I! DO! NOT! SUCK!" (Slash, slash, slash, slash, slash, slash.)

Shao Kahn wondered if he had miscalculated. He guessed that this was so while the Samurai (and his afterimages) started jumping up and down on him.

"I DO NOT SUCK I DO NOT SUCK I DO NOT SUCK I DO NOT SUCK I DO NOT SUCK I DO NOT SUCK I DO NOT SUCK I DO NOT SUCK I DO NOT SUCK I DO NOT SUCK I DO NOT SUCK I DO NOT SUCK I DO NOT SUCK I DO NOT SUCK I DO NOT SUCK I DO NOT SUCK I DO NOT SUCK I DO NOT SUCK I DO NOT SUCK I DO NOT SUCK I DO NOT SUCK I DO NOT SUCK I DO NOT SUCK I DO NOT SUCK I DO NOT SUCK I DO NOT SUCK I DO NOT SUCK I DO NOT SUCK I DO NOT SUCK I DO NOT SUCK!" (accompanied by much jumping up and down)

With a final slash, the Samurai knocked the somewhat flattened Kahn out of the ring.

The Kahn landed in a dusty plain. Looking about him as he staggered to his feet, he mumbled. "**This node has promise...I shall conquer it! My legions! To me!**"

The only response was a huge herd of cattle, bearing down right on Shao Kahn. The Sunset Riders node was not visitor-friendly.

Meanwhile, Anakaris nodded. "So, we have to stop Shao Kahn? It appears the job is done for us..."

Rose shook her head. "Too easy, though. Something's wrong..." She noticed Dan, gesturing frantically in the stands. "We might have trouble."

Anakaris turned as well. "Very well, then. 'Eliminate' me, so that I might aid them. You appear to be protecting Haohmaru well enough."

Rose goggled. "Are you sure...?"

Anakaris smiled. "Of course I am. These competitions mean little to me anyways. And we must not arouse suspicion..."

Rose grumbled. "Okay..." With a swift Scarf Snap, she knocked Anakaris over the "ropes". The mummy landed in the Splatter House node, where he spent fifteen minutes dueling with odd buglike things.

* * *

**Room 519, RumbleDome Hotel**

"So...the pieces are aligning themselves into place." Rugal gently snatched up his wineglass in his metal hand and poured a Chateau Briage '76 into it.

Number 27 stared at him. "How do you assume that? We've received evidence of two highly discouraging factors: firstly, that we have rivals in the race for Haohmaru's soul; and secondly, that there is organized resistance by some of the do-gooders against us."

Rugal smiled. "Both of which are too valuable not to be passed up. Rivals are useful for two things: taking out people we mutually need removed, and then being blamed for it. Particularly useful will be the coalition of Shao Kahn and M. Bison: they already distrust one another far more than, say, you and I do...and they both have simplistic notions about brute force being enough to win true power. Neither have the slightest idea of subtlety."

"Interesting. Now, if you would explain how resistance against us is a good thing."

"Simple." Rugal sipped his wine. "This is really excellent...a good year. At any rate...the resistance apparently is unaware that all those pursuing Haohmaru's soul are not in cahoots. They will believe that any strike against "the bad guys" will result in a loss of power to us all, when in truth they're only damaging our rivals."

Number 27 smiled. "Impressive."

Rugal nodded. "There's one more advantage we may be able to grab if the timing is right. A wild card, if you will."

Number 27 guessed it instantly. "Magneto."

"Precisely. He's easily the most powerful fighter in attendance; he will command the loyalties of Juggernaut and Omega Red, and possibly the Silver Samurai as well; he wants power as much as we do - although he has a ridiculously altruistic cause; and he has not yet aligned himself with any of our rivals."

"So you propose we woo him?" Number 27 clasped his hands together. "But he refuses to work with any except mutants."

"A quandary. But one that can be overcome, I am sure." Rugal sipped his wine some more. "So, now that you have your errant warrior's soul back in your hands...what are you going to do with it?"

"Jago obviously cannot be allowed free will. Thus, I will destroy it."

"Excellent. I assume you will use him to garner information about our enemies?"

Number 27 smiled in response. "But of course."

* * *

**The Ring**

Athena was acting oddly. (Or, rather, normally, depending on your point of view and usage of the word.) She was pointing at the newly arrived Omega Red and screaming.

Omega ran over to her. "What? Is it the tentacles? People always whine about my tentacles, like it makes a difference if I kill them with my bare hands. Hmmmm. That's a good idea, actually..."

Athena screamed. "Tentacles! Tentacles! OVERFIEND had tentacles! You're the OVERFIEND! Evil, bad, not-very-nice, lousy-table-manners OVERFIEND!" She quickly grabbed him and threw him over the ropes.

Omega Red fell into Smurf Village.

"PAPA SMURF! PAPA SMURF! This one has TENTACLES!"

"Tentacles? Let me check my books... hmmmm. 'Overfiend.'" He shrugged. "Be prepared to run if he doesn't disappear within fifteen minutes like all the rest."

Sawada, also a newcomer, was having troubles coping with the rest of the fighters.

"What do you _mean_, you don't recognize me? I'm Sawada! Second-in-command to Colonel Guile!"

"Oh...you're from the Street Fighter node." said Rose. "Funny. I don't recognize you...maybe Charlie would?"

"Charlie? Charlie Blanka?"

Heavy D! shook his head. "Nah! Blanka..." he noticed that he was talking within earshot of Rose and Guy, "um. Ain't Charlie. Oh well. Since you're from the Street Fighter node, I'd guess you'd know Fei Long... he's around here somewhere."

Sawada was starting to lose it. "Fei Long? Who the hell is that?"

Heavy D! looked at Sawada oddly. "You know, for someone who says he's a Street Fighter, you sure don't know anybody..."

Sawada ran at D! "I **am** a Street Fighter! I AM!" D! shrugged and Soul Flowered Sawada over the edge of the "ropes". Sawada landed in the USA of the Street Fighter node.

Guile walked up to him.

"Who're you?"

Sawada stared at the strange figure. "Who are _you_?"

"I'm Guile. Pleased to meet..."

Sawada lunged at him. "YOU'RE NOT GUILE!"

Guile clobbered him with a Flash Kick. "What's up with him?"

* * *

**Eliminated Seating**

Charlotte, supporting a slowly staggering Ryo Sakazaki, reappeared into the Eliminated seating as the two made their way through the doorway.

Collapsing over in the corner opposite Morrigan's entourage, they were instantly joined by Andy Bogard and Dan.

Andy looked at him. "Jesus. What happened to you, Ryo?"

Ryo lay back, wincing in pain. "Morrigan, Wolf and Janne happened to me."

Andy grinned. "I know you've been having woman troubles, but you should know better than to interrupt..."

Ryo glared at Andy. His tone lowered automatically. "Ha. Ha. Ha. Morrigan was turning Wolf into her slave when I interrupted, and Janne was helping me until Morrigan got her too."

Charlotte interrupted. "That's not important! What did they say about Haohmaru?" she hissed quietly.

Dan started at that. "Haohmaru? Who mentioned Haohmaru?"

Ryo looked at them. "Okay, shut up and let me talk here."

Over on the other side of the seating, Janne was gently stroking Morrigan's waist. "What do you desire of me, mistress?"

"Nothing right now." Morrigan's voice was irked. The Sakazaki boy was up again. This could prove troublesome... best to talk to Pyron. She activated a mental communication.

"Pyron?"

"Have you learned of any further opposition to our plans?"

"Possibly... have you dealt with the remaining fighters who were plotting against us?"

"Naturally. What is the problem?"

"Ryo Sakazaki isn't out of the picture yet."

A pause. "Why didn't you kill him?"

"Lapse in judgement. I'll fix things, okay?"

"No. You and Demitri have to 'recruit' more fighters to our cause. We shall need them, after all."

"So who then..."

"I'll let Mizuki handle it."

"All right..."

Back on the other side of the seating, Ryo had finished some time ago, and Dan had responded with his tale of what Rose had related to him.

Ryo mulled it over. "So... Morrigan is working for Shao Kahn? That doesn't make much sense..."

Charlotte was in no mood to talk. Seeing Kano, she drew her epee. "I shall split their skulls apart!"

Andy grabbed her and held her down. "Dammit, if we get stopped by Security, we won't be able to do anything! We have to work quietly. And right now we need information, because it looks like we're dealing with more then one force of bad guys."

Ryo nodded. "I have a plan for that, actually."

Dan looked at him. "What?"

"Well, my gi's been torn to shreds here. So, I have to go back to my room to change, right? And who knows what I might hear back there?"

Dan shook his head. "It's too dangerous. You've just had the crap beaten out of you! We can't send you back now. What if they catch you again?"

"I'm the only one who _can_ go. I have an excuse, they won't view me as a threat, and it'll give me a little more time to recuperate. Besides which, if they revolt openly you'll be needed here."

It was patently clear that Andy, Charlotte, and Dan didn't like this idea much. It was also patently clear that they all realized no choice was involved.

* * *

**The Ring**

As Brocken, still frothing at the mouth and screaming for Sub-Zero's head on a platter, was tossed out leisurely by Haohmaru ("HA! YOU WOULD DO BETTER TO FOCUS YOUR CONSIDERABLE ANGER ON A PRESENT TARGET, RATHER THAN ONE WHO IS NOT PRESENT! OF COURSE, BEING THE LEGEND THAT I AM, NO AMOUNT OF ANGER THAT YOU WOULD EVER POSSESS WOULD BE ENOUGH TO BEST ME! FOR MINE IS THE WARRIOR'S WAY, THE NOMAD'S WAY, THE CURDS AND WHEY...") into the Terminator 2 node (where he was shot by Rebel Human forces sixty times before he fell down), Takuma Sakazaki turned and saw his son, Ryo, stagger back into the Eliminated seating (supported by Charlotte), obviously having had the crap whaled out of him.

Takuma immediately ran over. "RYO! Son! Are you all right?" But Ryo was already staggering out of the Eliminated seating, his tattered gi trailing along behind him, only the pants even anywhere close to being intact.

Takuma, his eyes still on the Eliminated seating, was paying no attention as Caffeine Nicotine knocked Galford for a loop. "Now, kid, this is where a good old-fashioned fighting technique can come in handy. Just think, if you'd enrolled at Caffeine Nicotine's School Of Hard Knocks, you'd have been taught the famed One-Arm-Shuffle, perfect for this sort of situation where you've been partially dismembered."

Galford slashed frustratedly at the little old man, who easily blocked with his staff. "Y'see? Easy block. Now, if _I'd_ taught you the brilliant Quintuple-Deke-And-Dive, you'd have just slashed me right proper across the legs. But I didn't, so you didn't. Did I mention how cheap tuition is? Only two thousand yen worth of food and three quests a year!"

Galford disappeared, and dove in from above directly down on Caffeine, who blocked with his hat. "Yep. Now _that_ was an example of the near-perfect Paddy Fighter's Block technique, taken from the Ranmaist school of "total environmental combat." Well worth learning, if you ask me..."

Galford stepped back. "Sic 'em, Poppy!"

Nicotine was suddenly buried in angry biting dog. "Aghh! Aggggh! No fair! Look, you didn't give me a chance to point out that the Nicholson Kill-The-Doggie style would have enabled to me to prevent this if you hadn't moved so danged fast!"

Galford kicked the old man over the "ropes". "No thanks. I'm pretty happy with my regular style."

Caffeine landed in Pong. "Ah! Now **this** is more like it! None of them super-hyper colours! This is what we had in the old days! Heck, we didn't even have this! For fun, we had to grab knives and slash at each other to the death before we turned twelve, and WE LIKED IT!"

Meanwhile, Cyclops was hitting half the ring with his Mega Optic Beam. Everybody except Takuma Sakazaki was caught in the massive blast, and Guy was the only target who managed to block.

Spying Takuma, Cyclops ran over and prepared to boot the older fighter out.

Takuma wasn't paying attention. He'd seen virtually every Killer Instinct fighter present in the Eliminated seating leave, along with Chang Koehan, Billy Kane, and Eiji Kasaragi. Something was up, and Takuma was more than willing to bet that his son was involved somehow...and now Morrigan, Janne, and Wolf were taking off as well! What was going on here?

He was thus surprised when Cyclops caught him in a flying head-scissors and vaulted him over the ropes. However, Takuma had learned more than a few tricks in his vast experience fighting, and managed to catch the mat edge before he tumbled through the field. Pulling himself up a bit, he saw Cyclops' legs in front of him- the X-Man was Optic Blasting Guy. Grabbing wildly, he caught onto Cyclops' leg and latched on.

Cyclops' Optic Blast shot wildly into the air as he was jerked out of position. Looking down, he saw Takuma holding onto dear life. He prepared to Optic Bolt the older fighter away.

Birdman was speaking into the mike rapidly. "Folks, this is interesting... note that if Cyclops is pulled out _underneath_ the ropes by Takuma, he _won't_ be eliminated... in fact, a forcefield will consolidate underneath him until he returns back into the ring. Takuma, it should also be noted, hasn't yet been eliminated either... that won't occur until he passes through the field. If he gets back into the ring, he's perfectly legal."

Cyclops' aim was letter-perfect. He prepared to knock Takuma off...

...and suddenly felt multiple kicks striking his back, carrying him upwards with painful force, and over the "ropes". Guy had not been idle while Cyclops aimed at Takuma.

Takuma, his handhold lost, tumbled through the field just before Cyclops followed him. Both fighters landed in Caveman Ninja, and spent their next few moments fending off a dinosaur before setting down to furious conversation.

* * *

**Room 725, RumbleDome Hotel**

Blue Mary stepped out of the shower, stretching languorously. Damn, but that had been good...the fighting circuit didn't leave room for so many perks usually... hell, most places didn't give you a complimentary bathrobe!

Walking over to her bed (a _double_ bed. Double the fun, as her sister used to say. She reminded herself to go find Terry after the Rumble and make use of all these additional perks) she lay down, revelling in the wonderfully soft blankets - and the afterdinner mint on her pillow (which she promptly ate).

The mint had reminded her of how hungry she was, and she turned over to the phone...

...and saw someone. A fairly tall man, youngish, with noble, arrogant features, dressed in a brown form-fitting suit and red cloak, sitting quite calmly in the plush armchair, his feet up on _her_ bed.

Surprised, Blue was determined not to show it. "Hey, sugah, don't y'all know how ta knock?" Very good. Not even a quiver in her voice. Of course, there was no reason for her to be scared of him: she'd been in this situation before, and always handled it (usually by throwing the offender out the window, after slamming him against the wall a few times).

"My apologies, but time was of the essence, and you did not hear my summons... I presume you were busy in the shower."

"Well, yeah, I was...WHAT TH' HELL ARE YA DOIN' IN MY ROOM?" Blue's voice rose upwards as she realized she was being reasonable for someone who had broken into her place of rest.

"Allow me to introduce myself. I am Demitri Maximoff, of House Maximoff, from Rumania. I come to you seeking your aid."

"How did you find mah room?"

"One of your fellow fighters, Bob Wilson, was chatting with myself and two fighters from the Tekken node...he told me where to find you."

"Uh-huh." Blue made no attempt to disguise her skepticism. "An' what could I do ta help yourself?"

"Your fiance, Terry Bogard..."

Blue laughed nervously. "Oh, he ain't my fiance, honey. He's just... kinda... got a thing goin' with me, that's all. Andy an' Mai are the ones're gettin' married."

"My apologies once again. As it may be, Terry is in great danger. His soul, you see, has been supercharged due to his drawing the last number in the Rumble last year...surplus nodal energy."

Blue looked blankly. "I don't understand what you're gettin' at."

"Don't worry. I do. What matters is that every two-penny tyrant present wants Terry alive so they can sacrifice him."

Blue stood up quickly. "Well, we gotta go tell him!" Terry couldn't die! He was... Terry!

Demitri shook his head. "If we tell Terry, then these tyrants shall view us as targets as well. We can help more effectively from the shadows."

Blue nodded. "Okay. Just lemme get mah fightin' togs an'..." She stopped suddenly as she felt Demitri's hand close about her wrist. Looking into his eyes, she couldn't help noticing how powerful they seemed...

"You are quite beautiful. You know this?"

She was _blushing_...stop it! Stop it! You're _Terry's_ girl, not this high-born man's floozy!

She stopped as their mouths were inches apart. "Look, Demitri... you're awful handsome... but I'm Terry's, and he's mine. I'm a one-man girl..."

Demitri smiled. "I understand."

She smiled back. "Good."

He continued to smile. "You obviously have some ilusions about yourself. Allow me to shatter them." His head dove down, fangs extending as they plunged into her neck.

Blue suddenly knew what Demitri was. And she knew that she wasn't a one-man girl anymore...

* * *

**The Ring**

Yoshimitsu, having been slashed away Smoke, was now listening to rapid talk from Guy. He nodded. "Protect Haohmaru! Save the universe! Eliminate even the toughest stain!"

Suddenly, Yoshimitsu noted that Mai Shiranui was hurling fans at Haohmaru. "Now, kids, remember: don't throw anything with a pointed edge." he said, and ran over to her, spin-kicking her as he arrived.

Meanwhile, Jon Talbain was pulling Smoke away from Haohmaru, via a Wild Circular that left the cyberninja sputtering in front of the "ropes" and easy prey for a Rising Comet Rush from the werewolf. The Mortal Kombatant landed in Battle Arena Tohshinden.

Gaia, Sho, and Fo all looked at him. "My. He isn't one of us, is he?"

Yoshimitsu was now slashing at Mai Shiranui unreservedly. "The Yoshimitsu 2000 is stain-resistant, which really makes it a handy aid in those battles where the blood flies!"

"Don't you ever SHUT UP?" Mai yelled, and Flame Fandangoed the Tekkeneer over the "ropes". It landed in Caveman Ninja, next to Takuma and Cyclops. Yoshimitsu instantly recognized Takuma as one of those Guy had mentioned.

"Protect Haohmaru! Save the universe! Eliminate even the toughest stain!"

Cyclops was puzzled. "Okay, you've been telling me about Haohmaru, but what did _that_ mean?"

Takuma shrugged. "I guess it means this thing is on our side."

* * *

**Room 519, RumbleDome Hotel**

"Didn't youh haave anything moh dihfficuhlt foh me to do?" muttered the cyberwired Jack-2 in a voice vaguely reminscent of Arnold Shwarzenegger.

Rugal looked at the fighter. "Shut up. You're being paid handsomely." He looked around at his other acqusitions from the Tekken node: Paul Phoenix, Baek, King, and this gigantic bear they called Kuma which was being sedated right now.

Jack-2, their most important hiring, was patched into the security network of the RumbleDome, and screens had been wried into him. Eventually, they'd disengage the monstrously huge fighter, and then they'd have a direct linkup to every camera in the building. Number 27 had overseen the patch job, showing a surprising knowledge of cybernetics and security grids.

Rugal turned to Number 27. "They have a technical genius of some sort on the Security team. How do we know we won't be detected?"

Number 27 laughed. "We won't be. I rewrote the detection schematic while I was in there...they'll think any security problem is coming from Pyron's suite."

Rugal nodded. He looked at Jago. The ninja was standing ramrod-straight against the wall, his eyes glowing a malevolent green.  
"What are we going to do with him?"

"I haven't decided yet. He has to go fight in the Rumble, though. I may control his actions, see how well I do. For a giggle, you know."

"Hey! Over here!" The voice was the hollow echo of King's mask.

Rugal and 27 headed over to Jack-2. The cameras were up and running, and they were getting every bit of information they wanted.

One screen showed Ryo Sakazaki, in a new white gi, standing outside a door and looking pale.

"Which door is that?" Rugal asked.

Number 27 turned to a laptop and tapped a few keys. "It's the suite assigned to Mizuki... she's working with Pyron, or so we thought."

Rugal roared. "Excellent! Now he thinks Mizuki has tricked them all into believing that Shao Kahn is responsible! We're home free!"

Paul Phoenix tried to interrupt. "Um..."

"Shut up. King, fetch the champagne...I feel like celebrating!"

"But..."

Rugal turned to Paul. "What? What could possibly be so important that you have to interrupt me?"

Paul turned white. "It's just that I saw him walking away from here as I was coming here, man. Nothing, really, but I thought you should know..."

Rugal turned red. "WHAT?"

Number 27 looked at the screen. "He's not lying." Ryo could be seen ticking off fingers and saying names. As the cameras were not wired for sound, they had to rely on reading his lips... but it was pretty clear what he was saying. "Rugal." "Number 27." "Shao Kahn." "M. Bison." "Mizuki." "Pyron." "Demitri."

Number 27 looked confused. "Demitri? Why is **he** important?"

Rugal wasn't interested. "Where's the door guard?"

Iori Yagumi shrugged. "Still unconscious. You didn't appoint anyone to replace Cinder."

Rugal shook his head. "I am surrounded by bunglers." He strode out the door."

Number 27 called out after him. "Where are you going?"

Rugal turned. "The ring. I enter briefly. However: order the fighters we summoned back here to ambush Sakazaki as he heads back to wherever he's going... I suspect the Eliminated seating. That one knows _everything_... he is the most dangerous to us right now. And one last note: Magneto will be here shortly. Don't screw up our chance at domination."

* * *

**Passageways Underneath the RumbleDome**

Ryo was running now.

He was the only one who understood how bad things were. He _had_ to get back to the others...

* * *

_Original Authors_

Chris "Birdman" Bird  
Brant Rogers  
Scott Johnson  
Austin Loomis


	14. Section 7

**Section Seven**

New fighters continued pouring into the ring.

* * *

**"OMEGA RUGAL!"** (King of Fighters '95)

The Rugal of the past, the more gentle, caring Rugal, was gone now. Omega Rugal was here. Omega Rugal was a killing machine. And he wanted Haohmaru.

* * *

**"SENTINEL!"** (X-Men: Children of the Atom)

The gigantic robot stomped down to ringside. All the fighters present briefly wondered how they were supposed to fight something that big.

* * *

**"EARTHQUAKE!"** (Samurai Showdown 2)

Birdman clicked on his com unit. "Brant... can the ring _take_ both of them at the same time?"

"Them, plus Kuma, plus Juggernaut, plus every wrestler from the Slam Masters, 3 Count Bout, and Wrestlemania nodes, plus Wan-Fu, plus E. Honda, plus Axel Hawk, plus..."

"I get the point."

Of course, the ring's structural integrity was of secondary importance to the fighters within it.

* * *

**Eliminated Seating**

Takuma, Cyclops, and Yoshimitsu entered the seating, and quickly headed over to Dan (whom Takuma had noticed talking to Ryo).

"Where did my son go?"

Dan looked worried. "He went looking for information on who we're up against. It might be more than Shao Kahn."

Takuma swore quietly. "Where is he? Shouldn't he be back by now?"

"I was just about to go after him, with Rikuo... he's with us now."

"We're all going, then."

Yoshimitsu agreed. "We're going to save the king!"

"Whatever." muttered Cyclops.

He noticed something. Where was Psylocke?

* * *

**The Ring**

**"YURI SAKAZAKI!"** (King of Fighters '95)

Seeing Takuma leave, and Ryo not present, Yuri wondered briefly if the two of them had decided, for once in their lives, to fight in _private_ about Ryo's lack of a social life, rather than in public.

She muttered to herself. "No such luck. They're probably both in the bathroom."

* * *

**"BAEK!"** (Tekken 2)

Looking at Omega Rugal, Baek was suddenly _very_ glad that he had signed on with the winning side.

* * *

**"CHIEF THUNDER!"** (Killer Instinct)

"And that would be Chief Thunder, another member of the Killer Instinct team. So, Professor Tym... why exactly have the KI fighters been having such a rough go of it?"

"One of the dangers of internodal combat, my boy. You see, most of the Instinctual Killers base their fighting style around charging moves-rush in and deal damage, set yourself for a combo. However, most of the other nodes, don't you know, have gone for more well-rounded moves. There's only a couple of KI fighters that I feel pose a threat to any non-KI fighter. Jago, because his moves are less charge-based; Fulgore, for the same reason... possibly Riptor."

"But Chief Thunder?"

"A puddle in a rainstorm, my boy."

* * *

**Workout Room, RumbleDome Hotel**

Nunzio nodded at the Highdancers, who left promptly to head back to Central Command. "So. Here we are, back at the workout room. I trust you will stay here until further notice?"

Captain Kidd nodded. "Hey! Ho! You can count on us..."

"Very good. Good day, gentlemen..." and the Italian strode off.

Sie Kensou groaned. "We failed..."

Captain Kidd opened the door. "Things could be worse. We still have people to send out..."

Looking in on the workout room, they saw how wrong that statement was. Kung Lao was pinned underneath a set of barbells. Jago was missing, as was Jubei Yagyu. Iceman was standing in the corner, rubbing his head.

Kidd looked around. "What happened?"

"We got our butts kicked is what happened. Must've been seven or eight fighters... first, Jago just _left_, then they rushed in, got us by surprise... Jubei ran out, screaming battle cries, we heard him for a while, but then he just... stopped." Iceman groaned out the words rather then speak them. "Come on. We gotta get Kung Lao out from under those weights..."

* * *

**The Ring**

**"HEIDERN!"** (King of Fighters '95)

The powerful mercenary strode down to ringside, his eyes fixed on Rugal. "You are MINE, Rugal! Mine and no other's!"

* * *

**"MANTAZZ!"** (Time Killers)

"Food for the nezzzt! You will all be food for the nezzzt!"

* * *

**"MUDMAN!"** (World Heroes Perfect)

"Woo-hoo! Woo-hoo! Woo-hoo!"

Up in the control booth, Birdman turned to Reptile. "You know, I can't help wondering if he actually says anything than that."

* * *

**Room 245, RumbleDome Hotel**

Demitri opened the door, surprising Mizuki, who had been stroking the fur of her Demon Dog coolly. After him marched in five fighters...the biggest surprise being Jubei Yagyu.

"I'm impressed. Introductions?"

Demitri bowed. "Blue Mary and Bob Wilson, from the Fatal Fury 3 tourney; Heihachi and Nina Williams, from the Tekken node; and I believe you know Jubei Yagyu, who quite literally ran into me."

"You do good work, Demitri. One of these days you'll go places." She turned away. He certainly was a useful tool, but nothing more...

"WIPEOUT!"

Mizuki turned, to see Demitri directly in front of her, and her Demon Dog stunned on the floor, somewhat burnt. She couldn't react before Demitri had sunk his fangs into her neck.

She could feel his thoughts. "You should have known I would never be content to remain your servant, Mizuki...and now you will be mine. Today, it appears, is the day I go places..."

* * *

**The Ring**

**"RASPUTIN!"** (World Heroes Perfect)

"Now, now, now! There _must_ be a better way to resolve who the best fighter is than actually fighting, no? How about a dancing contest? That seems like a lovely way to get to know one another, doesn't it?"

Earthquake responded. "Yeah! My butt and your face!"

Rasputin launched a Lightning Ball at Earthquake. "Now now. Sarcasm doesn't befit you, my boy."

and, the final fighter of this section:

* * *

**"LAU CHAN!"** (Virtua Fighter 2)

The Virtua Fighter, before entering the ring, waited patiently.

Birdman grew agitated. "What is he waiting for?"

Suddenly, Heavy D! fell. Instantly, Lau launched himself into the air, and landed on D!'s chest, where he began to stomp repeatedly.

* * *

**Sub-Basement 32-YT9**

Ryo Sakazaki ran towards the Eliminated seating. He was nearly there... only eighteen levels up and six rooms over.

"Ryo. Ryo Ryo Ryo Ryo. What EVER do you think you're doing?"

Ryo wheeled. Behind him, Billy Kane stepped out of the shadows.

"You know way too much, Ryo. I don't suppose you could be persuaded to change sides? Rugal pays well."

"I'm gonna make you eat those words, Kane. I'm feeling MUCH better now."

"Really? Oh, it's not that I don't believe you. It's just that I doubt you can take us all on."

"Huh?" Ryo's query was answered as Eiji Kasaragi stepped out of one corner. Chang Koehan lumbered up behind Billy. The opposite corner revealed Sabrewulf, and yet another Fulgore. Glacius walked up directly behind Ryo, and Eyedol dropped through a gap in the ceiling. Riptor was behind Fulgore, and T.J. Combo behind Eiji.

Ryo was surrounded.

"Close all the doors, boys...we don't want anybody hearing Ryo scream..." Billy flipped his stick in the air once. All the fighters complied with his order.

Ryo decided to go out with a show of bravado. "I can take at least one or two of you bastards down with me, you know."

Billy smiled. "If we got in close, no doubt. But we're just going to whittle you down with projectile attacks. On three, boys. One... two..."

Suddenly, the door behind Glacius smashed open, a metal foot splintering it apart and not coincidentally smashing Glacius in the back.

"LOOOO-SEEEEEE! I'MMM HOOOOOOOOME! AND I BROUGHT COM-PAN-EEEEEE!"

Yoshimitsu sprang forward, followed by Takuma, Cyclops, Rikuo, and Dan. The battle was joined.

WHO WILL LIVE?  
WHO WILL DIE?  
AND WHAT'S DEMITRI'S NEXT MOVE ANYWAY?

* * *

_Original Authors_

Chris "Birdman" Bird  
Brant Rogers  
Scott Johnson  
Austin Loomis


	15. Section 7 - Results

Section Seven - Results

**The Ring**

Omega Rugal was proving something he had always known to be true: if you want something done right, do it yourself.

The ring was a nightmare. Mai Shiranui lay unconscious in one corner; nearby, Heavy D! was staggering to his feet, blood pouring down his face. Over in another corner, Guy was just getting up, standing over the nearly-dead Jon Talbain. Rose had just been slammed with a Kaiser Wave- the same Kaiser Wave that had downed Galford. Athena was standing in a third corner, humming quietly to herself. The Silver Samurai was goggling at Rugal's display of power.

And Rugal was draining Haohmaru of his life energy. He knew, of course, that he wasn't getting his hands on Haohmaru's soul. He would need the rituals for that.

But it certainly _felt_ like it.

The Sentinel had entered the ring now, and started to head over to the Silver Samurai. However, Asamiya Athena was in the way.

#Please vacate the premises, citizen. Termination of the mutant is about to be carried out.#

"You're shiny!"

#This is your final warning. Extreme violence will be used if you do not leave immediately.#

"But I like shiny things. Like silver and my jewelry and...oh, can I have a piggyback ride? I promise I won't make silly sounds!"

#Terminate citizen.#

The Sentinel fired rockets at Athena. However, the Chinese Psycho Fighter had already jumped up, and landed on the Sentinel butt-first. The imbalance caused the Sentinel to stagger forward.

Landing on the other side, Athena pouted. "Hmmmmph. You're no fun." She then Psycho Uppercutted the huge robot over the side. The Sentinel landed in Saturday Night Slam Masters.

The Scorpion gawked. "We have to fight **that**?"

Earthquake entered, grinning merrily to himself. Number 27 paid well. Two bags of gold, just for beating up Haohmaru? This was his lucky day! He wandered over to Rugal, still pounding on Haohmaru. En route, he encountered the Silver Samurai, charging up his sword with electricity.

"What are you so happy about?"

"I'm gettin' paid to beat up on Haohmaru! Two whole bags of gold! Number 27 and Rugal are paying anyone who's interested."

The Samurai stroked his chin. "Two bags of gold? Hmmmm. Sounds profitable..." He ran over to Rugal. "Excuse me, Mister Rugal, but I heard you were paying..."

"Yes, I am, but not right now."

The Samurai's eyes narrowed. "Why not?"

"Oh, it's not that you suck or anything. I'm just busy..."

However, after Rugal's sixth word, the Samurai had ceased to hear anything else. "SUCK? SUCK? SUUUUUUUUCK?"

"Huh?"

The Samurai started madly slashing at Rugal. "I DO NOT SUCK!"

Rugal, taken completely by surprise, simply couldn't counter the Samurai's attacks. "But... but... but..."

"I DO NOT SUCK! I DO NOT NOT NOT NOT NOT NOT NOT NOT NOT SUCK! NOT ONE BIT! NOT ONE IOTA! NOT ONE LEVEL OF CALIBER! NOT ONE TAD! NOT ONE MINUTE FRACTION OF TALENT! NOT ONE PARTICLE! IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOTT SUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK!"

Rugal was quickly slashed over the "ropes" and landed in the lava near Cinder's tower in the Killer Instinct node.

Earthquake had attempted to Fat Bound the fallen Haohmaru, but Heavy D! had been ready for him. As Earthquake bounced directly in front of Haohmaru, one leap away from squashing the ronin, D! lashed out with an R.S.D., knocking the Fat Bound off course. Earthquake started yelling crazily as he bounced uncontrollably towards the ropes. Coincidentally squashing Athena and the Samurai in successive bounds, Earthquake zoomed over the "ropes" and into Saturday Night Slam Masters, where the Sentinel was laying waste to large chunks of the ring (and some wrestlers).

#New target acquisition. Large size is evidence of probable mutation. Eliminate.#

"Oh yeah? Like to see ya try!"

(The entire node shook.)

* * *

**Sub-Basement 32-YT9**

Billy Kane staggered back. Two Haohshohkohkens from the Sakazaki pair had just slammed into him. Although he had managed to block them, the sheer power of the energy waves had hurt him badly.

Looking around, he reflected that he was lucky. Half of the Killer Instinct fighters had been knocked for a loop by Cyclops' Mega Optic Blast (Riptor in particular was hurting- it hadn't moved in twenty minutes). He, Chang, and Eiji had been holding their own against the Sakazakis and Rikuo, but the Mega Optic Blast had helped the other side considerably.

And then there was Dan. Billy had seen Dan in action (studying tapes). He was more advanced than your usual judo-dork, but hardly a match for any fighter here, with the exception of one of his more powerful desperation moves. But he was in there, and fighting with _EYEDOL_ of all people, and _winning_. The two-headed giant was completely helpless against the Alpha Fighter, even with that massive club.

Meanwhile, Yoshimitsu was having a grand time with Fulgore, wasn't he? That crazy spinning paddyhatted thing was knocking their robot for a loop. Fulgore wasn't exactly being impressive in return, Billy had to note.

"0110010001. YOU ARE HELPLESS AGAINST THE FULGORE-1. PREPARE TO BE DESTROYED."

"Help help me Rhonda! And don't call me Chief!" With which Yoshimitsu jumped back and raised his sword upwards.

"ALOHA." A huge gun sprouted out of Fulgore's head. This was rather pointless, for Yoshimitsu's energy blade stabbed forward at the exact same time, and the Fulgore-1 suddenly stood stock-still.

Meanwhile, Eiji Kasaragi was making quick work of Rikuo. One for our side, Billy grinned as he thought. The ninja's blades had managed to slice up the forearm spurs of the merman, and Rikuo had fallen back in pain, only to be dealt a mighty slash from Eiji. The Darkstalker fell. Eiji looked satisfied underneath his mask...

...until two Haohshohkohkens slammed him into a wall and into unconsciousness.

Dan had finished off Eyedol with a staggering uppercut, and the Instinctual Killer had run off madly. Now it was six to five. Billy didn't like the odds anymore.

"Retreat! We gotta get back to the HQ!" he yelled. "Chang! Give us cover!"

The huge Korean moved in front of the door and started swinging his iron ball around. Billy grabbed Eiji and ran behind, followed in close order by T.J. Combo, Sabrewulf, and Glacius.

Takuma Sakazaki wasn't about to let them get away. He dashed towards Chang, ready to pummel the giant. However, as he dashed Chang slammed the older fighter with his Iron Ball, and Takuma fell into unconsciousness, the massive iron-head contact knocking him out.

Chang suddenly dashed backwards himself, and the door slammed behind him.

Ryo looked about. Rikuo and his father were down, as were Riptor and Fulgore. Cyclops was leaning against the wall, breathing heavily, while Dan looked relatively fresh and Yoshimitsu looked untouched.

Ryo suddenly thought of something, and looked up. The engineering comlink on the wall had been smashed. "Security's gonna be here soon. We have to leave." He grabbed Takuma and heaved his father over his shoulder. "You..."

"The Yoshimitsu 2000 anticipates all requests!" With which the robot picked up Rikuo.

* * *

**The Ring**

The Silver Samurai was now trying his luck against a groggy Haohmaru, with some degree of success. Haohmaru was not flagging in one area, however. "HA! THOUGH THERE MAY BE SIX OF YOU, SILVERY SAMURAI WHO HAS A SWORD THAT SPITS FLAMES AND ICE, YOU CANNOT DEFEAT THE MOST LEGENDARY OF LEGENDS!"

Guy noted that Haohmaru was in trouble, and from across the ring broke into a run, headed straight at the mutant.

However, at that moment Asamiya Athena decided on something. "Oooooooh! You're shiny too! I love shiny things!" She then hugged the Silver Samurai tightly.

The Samurai was very confused. "Um. I don't suck, then?"

From Guy's point of view, there was only the Samurai (Athena being behind him at that angle). One Bushin Roundhouse staggered the Samurai... this was followed up by a Rising Spin Kick that knocked the Samurai, and not coincidentally Athena, out of the ring.

The two landed in Jumping Flash. Lights and sparkles shot around everywhere. The Samurai was amazed (and dazed).

Athena pouted. "Gee, _this_ is boring."

Baek, freshly entered, was launching his patented billion-kick combos against Haohmaru, with little success. Baek had been preparing ever since Number 27 had come to him with that offer. He knew that his kickboxing abilities were exactly what was needed in this situation. Thrust kicks, sweep kicks, spin kicks, rising kicks, and knees were all used to decimate Haohmaru. Baek polished off his assault with a seven-kick attack and jumped back to get a look at his opponent reeling.

It wasn't happening. Haohmaru had blocked every kick with ease. In fact, he had now had an opportunity to rest for a bit, merely setting his blade on his lap-the last twenty or so of Baek's kicks had struck nothing but air.

Baek was confused. He stepped forward cautiously.

"ENLIGHTENMENT!"

The resulting slash caused Baek to double over in pain.

"HA! THERE IS **NO** DIRT IN A TEN-BY-TEN-FOOT HOLE!" Haohmaru noticed Baek clutching at his slashed chest. "ALLOW ME TO PUT YOU OUT OF YOUR MISERY IN MY MOST LEGENDARY WAY!" Haohmaru Sogestsuzaned the Tekkeneer over the "ropes".

Baek landed in Midnight Resistance, in front of an oncoming tank. The turret shot odd glowing balls at him...

* * *

**Room 245, RumbleDome Hotel**

Pyron strode arrogantly into the room. "I can only assume that you have a good reason for bringing me here, Mizuki. I should be ready in the Eliminated seating should Haohmaru be eliminated!"

Mizuki didn't answer, as she was lying unconscious on the couch.

Pyron snorted. "What? You need my help? I suppose." He looked around the barren room. "Come here, weaklings! Face the fury of Pyron! I shall look into your eyes, and you will feel the hand of death upon you!"

Suddenly, Demitri teleported forward, through the wall, behind Pyron. The hypersensitive senses of the alien elemental managed to allow him to turn to meet Demitri's attack, but not to block it. The vampire grabbed and bit.

Demitri suddenly felt a heady rush as Pyron's green-tinged alien blood coursed into his mouth. It was a natural high.

The vampire didn't even notice that his hair was turning blue.

* * *

**Room 519, RumbleDome Hotel**

Number 27 was alone except for Iori Yagumi. All the rest were either waiting to enter the ring or hunting Ryo Sakazaki. Besides, knowing their guest's power, it made little difference if they were there or not.

The Ultratech CEO sat back in his chair. He had to play his cards right, or he would most likely be killed...

Suddenly the door opened. An imposing figure floated steadily into the room, a flowing purple cape and helmet hiding most of the features of the man within.

Magneto.

Number 27 smiled. "Welcome, Magnus. May I offer you some wine? Rugal has some excellent vintages."

Magneto scowled. "I am not here to socialize, human. I am Magneto, Erik Magnus Lensherr, and I have better things to do than drink to our mutual health."

Number 27's smile never faltered. "Of course. I assume you know why we call-asked you to come?"

Magneto's eyes narrowed. "No. I was only told that it involved power that would help me advance the mutant race."

Number 27 continued to smile. "Oh, it does." He pressed a button on a small remote in his hand. The lights dimmed somewhat, and a screen emerged above the fireplace.

Haohmaru appeared on the screen. Number 27 turned to it, as did Magneto. "Haohmaru, of the Samurai Shodown node. Victor of last year's Ultimate Video Rumble. He eliminated twenty-two fighters and fought for two and a half hours."

Magneto nodded. "I know of him. What is his significance?"

"Ah. Now that is rather interesting..." Number 27 clicked the button again, and a series of flowcharts appeared. "You see, when Haohmaru won the Rumble, his soul became "supercharged", for lack of a better word. The power contained within it is immense... enough to take over dozens of nodes, or even better to create new ones. All that is needed is the proper rituals."

Magneto looked angry. "You expect me, Magneto, scourge of humanity, to sink to the level of the theft of souls? What kind of scum are you?"

Number 27 clicked the button again. The lights came up. "The type who knows when it's worth it. One man - one _human _\- contains within him the power gods envy, yet he cannot use it. He's fighting on his own guts in there, nothing more. Now imagine a node of your own, where the mutant race can prosper, where humans are a thing of the past... even with the power of Haohmaru's soul divided equally between you, me, and Rugal, such a thing would be easily accomplished for you."

Magneto looked pensive.

Number 27 had hit exactly the right button.

* * *

**The Ring**

Rose, having had a brief chat with Mudman (a quiet one, with nothing piercing the general noise level except the occasional "Woo-hoo!"  
from Mudman), quickly Scarf Snapped the Polynesian fighter out of the ring and into Pedalcopter. Mudman, seeing the waters below, positioned his mask underneath him for splashdown.

Heavy D!, meanwhile, had noticed all the fighters leaving en masse. He motioned to Rose, who ran over. They talked while engaged in mock-sparring.

"What?"

"This looks bad...Takuma just left with Yoshimitsu, Cyclops, and Dan...and just before then a whole ton of KIers ran off with Billy Kane and his pals."

"So?"

"So I'm thinkin' they need help."

Rose looked concerned. "You heading out, then?"

D! nodded in return. "Ahhhhh, I got three. That's pretty good, I think. Take me out, and make it look real-ish, huh?"

Rose grinned. "I always do. Jump at me."

D! complied. Rose leapt up in her Aerial Slam and tossed D! over the "ropes".

D! landed in Smurf Village.

"Papaaaaaaaa Smuuuuuuuurf! Another one!"

D! noticed he was standing on top on a mushroom-sized house and quickly stepped away. "Sorry."

Papa Smurf grimaced. "Well, at least _you_ apologized..."

Over in another corner, Galford noticed Rasputin tending to Chief Thunder's wounds. Galford decided to investigate.

"What are you doing, good sir?"

"Woof!"

"Poppy also wants to know."

Rasputin smiled. "I'm giving the gift of healing to this poor chap. He's just had his shoulders slashed up by Haohmaru, and he's obviously in need of help."

Galford was dumbfounded. "But we aren't supposed to do that!"

"Not help people in need of help?"

The paradox of the situation was baffling Galford. "But... but... but..."

"Woof!"

Poppy's bark broke Galford's confusion. "That's right! Thanks, Poppy!" Galford slashed Rasputin over the ropes in one mighty (one-armed) blow.

"Whew! That was a close one, eh, Poppy?"

"Woof!"

Meanwhile, Yuri Sakazaki, seeing an easy elimination, launched a Haohshohkohken at Chief Thunder. The huge energy wave collided into the Native warrior and sent him over the "ropes".

Yuri grinned. "Gotcha!"

The two fighters landed in Joe &amp; Mac. Nothing was to be seen, so Rasputin continued tending to Chief Thunder.

Thunder felt shame. This selfless man, this good man, was tending his wounds when by rights they should be enemies. He had to repay the debt. But how...

"Mage?"

"My name is Rasputin, and yes?"

"I have something to tell you..."

Number 27 had never said they couldn't _talk_ about it.

* * *

**Sub-Basement 24A-DX11**

Ryo was hurriedly telling Cyclops, Dan, and Yoshimitsu everything he knew. Which was *everything*. Dan and Cyclops were both going pale as they realized exactly what they were going up against.

Yoshimitsu had been silent for about three minutes. (Which should have been a warning sign in and of itself.) Then, suddenly, it blared out loudly. "We've got motion! Eleven meters! Lots of 'em!"

Cyclops looked at the robot. "What do you mean?"

"The Yoshimitsu 2000 is equipped with a state-of-the-art motion detection array! This incredible unit can sense moving figures at a range of twelve meters, even through concrete walls!"

Ryo groaned. "How many do we have to fight this time?"

"Looks like a six-pack o' Bud!"

Cyclops nodded. "We can handle that."

Ryo shook his head. "We have to keep moving."

"Wait a minute!" Yoshimitsu interrupted. "There's more motion! Look! To the west!"

Dan's head shot around as he forgot concrete walls were in his way. "How many there?"

"Four Weddings and a Funeral."

Ryo grumbled. "Okay, Dan, you grab Rikuo and Dad and get them to the Eliminated seating. We'll hold 'em off for you, cause a distraction."

Cyclops shook his head. "You're getting out of here."

"No I'm not. You need me."

"Maybe, but you're too important right now. You're the only one who knows everything the various bad guys are doing. You haven't had time to fill us in on all the details yet. You **have** to get back and tell others."

"But..."

"No buts. Here's how we'll work it. I'll grab your father, and double back to the hotel. Dan takes Rikuo, and he goes down deep into the sub-basements. We both do our best to distract the enemy, and meanwhile, you and Yoshimitsu run unencumbered to freedom, and _evade them_."

Yoshimitsu spoke up. "The Yoshimitsu 2000 is geared for combat, not fleeing!"

"You're Ryo's guard. In case they do find you two, you're going to have to hold them off and delay them while Ryo escapes."

The robot nodded.

Ryo looked angry. "Dammit, I can't leave you in this kind of danger, and especially not alone!"

Cyclops shook his head. "Ryo, you **have** to get out of here. Once more people know, you can quite freely come back and bust heads. But until then, you **run**."

Ryo bit back a response and glowered brifely. Finally: "Don't let Dad get hurt."

Cyclops smiled. "He's with a pro."

Yoshimitsu yelled out loud. "Six meters! Five! Four!"

Dan looked around. "That can't be right. That's inside the room!"

Everyone was suddenly silent. Yoshimitsu quietly pointed up. In unison, everyone looked at the staircase leading upwards on the other side of the room.

Suddenly, Jack-2 ran down the staircase, followed closely by King and Paul Phoenix. "We hahve found dem!" yelled Jack-2. Cyclops Optic Blasted the cyborg into the wall.

"RUN!" yelled the X-Man. Everyone ran, Cyclops and Dan picking Takuma and Rikuo as they did. As a group, they ran into the next room.

Three doorways.

Cyclops grabbed Ryo's shoulder. "Good luck, son."

Ryo looked grim. "You too."

They parted ways.

* * *

**The Ring**

Heidern was furious. "Who eliminated Rugal? He was mine! MINE!"

Guy yelled out. "The Silver Samurai!"

"Samurai? SAMURAI?" Heidern looked around... and saw Haohmaru. Leaping upwards into a Death Bringer, he started slashing around Haohmaru's neck. Dropping down as Haohmaru fell, he tightened the tiny blades he concealed in his gloves.

Meanwhile, Yuri Sakazaki had found her next target: the just-staggering-to-his-feet Jon Talbain. The werewolf had been the first one to get in Rugal's way, and had paid the price. Blood matted his fur.

Dashing in, she quickly knocked him over the "ropes" with her modified uppercut (which looked abominably cute). Talbain landed in Sabrewulf's stage in the Killer Instinct node. Some bats looked at him curiously.

A furious Rose ran over to her. "You little moron! Don't you know what you're doing?"

"I'm fighting! What's your problem?"

"Shut up and listen."

Heidern was busily handing Haohmaru his head to him. The razor-sharp edges of his gloves were cutting up Haohmaru's fighting clothes into myriad pieces.

"Rugal was MINE! Mine alone! No other was to kill him! You've robbed me of my destiny!"

Lau Chan had pounced on Mai Shiranui, further removing her from the realm of consciousness. Noting this, he picked her up carefully. Muttering something to himself (something like "I might as well take her out of it now, she's not doing any more fighting"), he grabbed her and tossed her out of the ring in his practical over-the-shoulder toss).

Suddenly, his attention was drawn by Mantazz. "Old woman!"

"Man!"

"What?"

"I'm not a woman! I'm a man!"

"Oh, zorry. I always get your genderz mixzed up. Anyway. Old man!"

"I'm only sixty! That's hardly old!"

"Well, I **did** zay zorry about the woman bit."

"No! What I object to, is to your automatically treating me like an inferior!"

"Inferior? Well, I _am_ Queen."

"Oh, right, Queen! Who made you Queen?"

"My mother, when zhe fertilized my eggzac with the royal jelly. That'z why I'm Queen."

Lau was incensed. "That's idiotic! Governments should be made by the mandates of the people, not because some big bug splattered some goo on you!"

"Well, that'z not quite fair..."

"I mean, if **I** went around, saying I was in charge just because some overgrown grasshopper smeared some marmalade on me, they'd call me mad! Queen! Right!"

"But look..."

"Right. Queen. Just because some too-tall praying mantis decided to excrete some gunk on you in a prepubescent stage! Where's the democracy?"

Mantazz had had enough. "BLOODY PEAZANT!" Lunging at him with buzzsaw hands extended, she slashed madly. However, Lau had prepared for this and kickflipped away, his heels slamming into Mantazz's chin. The stunned alien was easy prey for Lau to quickly grab her and vault her over the "ropes".

Mantazz landed in Defender. She was promptly blown to bits.

Heidern was looking to knock Haohmaru out of the running permanently. He drew his hand back before the stunned samurai, preparing to deliver the Final Bringer.

However, Haohmaru suddenly started slashing his sword madly. "TEMPIN FUUZIN ZAN!" The resulting Sogetsuzan Fury hit Heidern four times and out of the ring.

Heidern landed in Ikari Warriors.

He smiled. "Always good to check the old surroundings."

* * *

_Original Authors_

Chris "Birdman" Bird  
Brant Rogers  
Scott Johnson  
Austin Loomis


	16. Section 8

**Section Eight**

**Sub-Basement A95-23**

Cyclops paused a few seconds. He was fairly sure he had lost them. Or maybe they had grown tired of his optic blasts. Either way, he had made up his mind...it was time to head back.

Adjusting Takuma Sakazaki on his shoulder, he turned... and saw Psylocke.

"Scott! Thank goodness I've found you! You have to come! Magneto's going to try to take over the Rumble node!"

Cyclops gasped. "Betsy, are you sure?" This would take precedence over the Haohmaru matter. Magneto was far too dangerous to be left alone.

"Yes! I saw the plans when I snuck into his suite! Come on!"

"Okay, let's go!" Cyclops started forward.

Psylocke grinned. "Why don't you let me carry that guy for a while? You must be getting tired."

Cyclops smiled in response. "Okay. Thanks." He transferred Takuma to Psylocke's shoulder. It *was* good to have the weight off.

"Lead the way, Betts."

"Right through this door, and then up a few levels..."

Cyclops instinctively went in front, and headed through the door.

Which was where Morrigan rushed him.

* * *

**The Ring**

**"CLARK!"** (King of Fighters '95)

Clark ran down to ringside. "Yep. It's always me, who gets the last draw. This, of course, is due to the fact that organizers recognize my amazing skill."

* * *

**"GENJURO!"** (Samurai Showdown 2)

"HAOHMARU!"

Everyone got that "oooch" look on their face.

"I will kill you! I will stab you and slash you and pierce you and ventilate you and cut you up some more and chop you into little pieces and then I will jump on the pieces up down up down up down up down and then I will chew on the sensitive parts and then I will spit them out because your raw flesh tastes horrid and then I will cook them until they are savory brown and then I will chew on them again and then I will spit them out again because it is your instinctive loserness that makes them taste bad and then I will jump on them some more up down up down up down up down and then I will spit on them ach-ptui and then I will stomp them extra hard and then I will burn the pieces of your flesh to a crisp then I will soak the crispy pieces in a bucket of acid then I will piss in the bucket of acid then I will scatter the acid and whatever remains of you across the Sea of Japan where sharks will instinctively turn away from it and then I will laugh hahahahaha for I will have finally defeated you in the manner you deserve, most unlegendary of legends!"

Birdman blinked. "Sounds like he needs a stress management course."

* * *

**"BAD MISTER FROSTY!"** (ClayFighter 2)

Birdman smiled. It hadn't been easy finding the sixth mystery slot to be filled. Duck King was busy, and Yokozuna had flaked on him at the last minute. However, he was certain Bad Mister Frosty would live up to his name.

Or, rather, he prayed.

* * *

**"DONOVAN BANE!"** (Darkstalkers 2)

"And this is Donovan Bane, one of the two newest Darkstalkers. Even if Wan-Fu hadn't switched to using a pillar, he'd still have the biggest sword in the UVR."

Meanwhile, Bane looked around. Spying Bad Mister Frosty, he ran over to him.

"Excuse me. Are you a monster?"

"I'm bad, I'm cool, I'm no one's fool."

"Is that a yes?"

"Say what you like, hotboy."

"Okay. DIE MONSTER! DIE!" Bane slashed at the snowman relentlessly.

* * *

**Room 245, RumbleDome Hotel**

_WHO DISTURBS MY CONTEMPLATION OF DOOMED SOULS?_

"I, Demitri Maximoff, of House Maximoff of Romania, 421 years old, of the Ventrue."

_WHY DO YOU DISTURB THE DARK GUY?_

"Power."

_WHY WILL I GRANT IT TO YOU, INSTEAD OF TORMENTING YOU ETERNALLY FOR BOTHERING ME?_

"I have taken control of your servant, Mizuki. I also control Pyron, of the Fire Plane. I am the logical choice for you to empower with dark magic, for should you give it to me, I shall reap destruction across all the nodes. All shall bend to me...in your name."

Of course, Demitri was lying through his teeth. Once he had the Dark Guy's power, he planned to use it to build up his own so he could challenge for domination of Hell. But he wasn't going to say _that_.

A pause. _YOU UNDERSTAND THE POLITICS OF HELL, DEMITRI MAXIMOFF. VERY WELL. I GRANT YOU YOUR REQUEST. GO FORTH AND DESTROY._

Demitri's aura began turning blue, as did his clothing. Suddenly, his aura erupted into flames.

Demitri began to laugh.

* * *

**The Ring**

**"NIGHTWOLF!"** (Mortal Kombat 3)

The Native warrior strode down to ringside, in a good mood for once. He had just been trading organic recipes with Storm.

* * *

**"STORM!"** (X-Men: Children of the Atom)

Storm flew down to ringside, ignoring the loud cheering section which was chanting "Ororo" and quickly tossed a Lightning Ball at Genjuro.

* * *

**"SARAH BRYANT!"** (Virtua Fighter 2)  
**"BENIMARU NIKKAIDO!"** (King of Fighters '95)

Sarah just kind of walked, trancelike, down to the ring. She was completely ignoring Benimaru. (Which was a rare stroke of luck for her.)

"Sarah-chan, we _have_ to talk about your clothing. I mean, this whole Jane Fonda-blue leotard thing is _out_, girlfriend. The gloves help a _bit_ but not nearly enough. You don't want to look like a goddamn aerobics instructor from Hell. No, dear, let me tell you, you want that I'm-a-tough-babe-and-if-you-mess-with-me-bitch-I'l-kill-you look, and right now you don't got that, honey. Now, your other outfit..." Benimaru shuddered, "that's even worse than this one... I mean, jeans are okay for that rural toughboy image that Terry Bogard has but they just don't suit you when you're trying to be feminine as well (although the open shirt and the bikini top doesn't project 'feminine' so much as 'give it to me right now, babe'). The boots are good, though - high boots are _always_ sexy. Don't worry, after the Rumble I'll take you shopping and we'll get you a new look- one that'll make all the boys happy and all the girls jealous bitches." Benimaru's speech was accompanied by grandiose gesturing.

* * *

**Control Booth**

Birdman was staring speechless at Benimaru's entrance when the com clicked on. "Yo, Birdboy."

"John, don't call me that. I hate being called that."

"Whatever. Get your ass in here."

Birdman stood and walked down a corridor to the UVR Magic Authority Office. Opening the door, he saw Misty John, the UVR's Magic Authority Officer, floating in a lotus position in front of a huge glowing 3-D blueprint of the RumbleDome. A large blinking light was present on the second floor.

"What is that, John?"

"Dunno. But it's big. Real freaking big."

"What room is that, anyway?"

"Room 245."

"245? That would be Pyron's room...and surveillance cameras did spot Mizuki there previously."

"If she didn't leave, I'd say that the kid is prolly having a chat with the Dark Guy...he's the only thing big enough to leave that kind of signature on this grid."

Birdman looked at the Akashic Brother. "Dangerous?"

"Nah. Best guess is that she's talking...the Dark Guy doesn't give power out more than once to any individual, and she's already gotten hers."

"Fair enough. Anything else you need me for?"

Misty John smiled nastily. "Well, if you could send Candy and Bunny up here again..."

Birdman rubbed his temples. "Yes. They told me about that. Please, don't get me involved in a sexual harassment suit, John...I have enough problems..."

"Hey! I didn't touch anything! And I promised to lead them to enlightenment, too!"

"Uh-huh." Birdman's com beeped again. "What?"

"B-b-b-Birdman, this is T-t-t..."

Birdman interrupted. "What is it, Tristan?"

"W-w-well, we've got some d-d-damage in one of the sub-b-basements, apparently caused by fighting. W-w-we don't know who did it yet, but I'm going to take a team in... but I'd like a Security escort."

Birdman nodded to himself as he strode back to the booth. "Right. I'll call Scott and tell him to send somebody."

* * *

**The Ring**

**"RYOKO!"** (World Heroes Perfect)

"It was worth it. It was worth it. I'm not cute anymore!"

Ryoko was dancing down in joy. Her physical appearance hadn't changed, but something was... different.

She jumped into the ring and tapped Donovan Bane on the shoulder. "Excuse me, sir. Am I cute?"

Donovan Bane looked at her. "Well, I guess. I don't really see it, though."

Ryoko jumped for joy. She ran over to Guy. "Am I cute?"

"Well, I saw some tapes of you at the DT... and you were cute then... but now, for some reason, you aren't. It's weird."

* * *

**"SHURA!"** (World Heroes Perfect)

"Ha! Now that I've sold my soul, **I** will be recognized as the mightiest of Muay Thai fighters!"

Mantazz muttered to Sasquatch, "What iz it with theze Muay Thaiz anyway?"

* * *

**"JUGGERNAUT!"** (X-Men: Children of the Atom)

"And this would be Juggernaut, one of the largest fighters present. He lists his interests as "destroying", "conquering" and "gardening", for those ladies interested in a relationship."

* * *

**"LIU KANG!"** (Mortal Kombat 3)

Lucky Glauber yelled out, "Hey! How come you have such a high voice?"

Liu Kang did not deign to answer.

* * *

**Eliminated Seating**

"SHUT UP! SHUT UP! I'M NOT LISTENING!"

Kyo Kusanagi's quiet argument with his father had regressed into a shouting war. Sasquatch stood between the two, recognizing that playing peacekeeper might hurt when both fighters had weird crackling energy in their hands.

"You have no choice! You will turn to the Dark Side of the Source!"

"Never!" Kyo stormed off and out of the Eliminated seating.

Saishu sat and fumed for several minutes, then tapped Baek on the shoulder, motioned for him to follow, and left the Eliminated seating as well.

* * *

**The Ring**

**"CHARLIE!"** (Street Fighter Alpha)

Running down to ringside, Charlie quickly ran over to Rose. "What's the 411, magic lady?"

Rose looked at him. She was getting tired of talking so much.

and, the final fighter of the section...

* * *

**"RYU!"** (Street Fighter Alpha)

The entire crowd began cheering loudly for one of the most popular fighters in the whole Multiverse. Ryu, of course, had no idea what was going on.

* * *

**Sub-Basement 119-A5Y**

Kyo was punching the wall in frustrated anger. He had wanted to take Saishu and ram his head against the chair. That hadn't bothered him. What _had_ bothered him was the desire immediately thereafter to touch the Source, to burn his father until only smoking remnants were left...

"So, the Dark Side is close to claiming you. How fitting."

Kyo whirled to see Saishu standing, stroking his beard.

"I won't turn, father. Never."

"Oh, you will, my son. It is only a matter of time." The Source sprung to Saishu's hands. "Defend yourself."

"I won't fight you, father."

"Then you will die." Saishu motioned, and suddenly three kicks slammed into Kyo's head. Baek grinned.

"Because of your unworthiness, I shall allow Baek to stomp you into the ground as he has asked to do. Then I shall touch the Source, and your body will be burned away. Perhaps my next son will be a suitable replacement."

Kyo managed to flip away from Baek before the Tekkeneer could slam him with another kick. "You'll have to do better than that."

Saishu smiled. "I can AGGGGGH!"

Saishu was suddenly slammed forward. Jon Talbain was directly behind him, looking _very_ angry.

"Welcome to the fight, kid. I'll fill you in later. First, let's whup these losers."

WHO WILL LIVE?  
WHO WILL DIE?  
IS DEMITRI GOING AFTER O.J. NEXT?

* * *

_Original Authors_

Chris "Birdman" Bird  
Brant Rogers  
Scott Johnson  
Austin Loomis


	17. Section 8 - Results

**Section Eight - Results**

**Room 245, RumbleDome Hotel**

Another powerful blow lashed into Takuma Sakazaki's chest.

Wolf admonished the beating. His face was contorted with joy as he pounded on the older sensai. Morrigan stood by, an angelic smile on her face.

"Now, don't you just want to tell us where your son is? I promise we won't hurt him much..."

Takuma's eyes slid open slightly. Almost mouthing the words, he muttered, "Go to hell."

Morrigan giggled. "Too late! Oh, well. Maybe after another ten blows from Wolf you'll be more in the mood to chat, hmmmm?" She nodded to Wolf, who drew back his fist once more.

Morrigan wandered over to Demitri. The Ventrue looked on at the torture for half-a-second. "*Why* didn't you just slave him, Morrigan? The noise is bothersome. I have a meeting with M. Bison in five minutes."

"I tried, Demitri. Honest! But his willpower is too strong. It's weird. Not many here can resist me..."

Demitri's eyes closed in disgust at the simpering Malkavian. "Whatever. It doesn't matter much to me, because you work for me now, correct?"

Morrigan looked at Demitri. His aura was lashing out, almost violently. It looked like a hungry animal.

She was scared of this man. And Morrigan didn't scare easily.

"Yes, Demitri... you know I'm not stupid enough to resist a cutiepie like you!" She was proud of the way she managed to keep a quiver out of her voice. She turned away, quicker than she would have liked.

Around the room, her toys sat, reclining upon on another. She made a note to take Cyclops again as soon as she got the chance...the X-Man, once his will had been cracked, had made an excellent slave. Much the same with Psylocke. Morrigan had been worried about the abilities of a telepath, but with the Brit's preference for combat, those skills had been dulled sufficiently to allow her supremacy in the contest.

She heard a sudden exhalation from Takuma. Wolf was apparently finished his beating.

Morrigan floated off to continue questioning her captive.

* * *

**The Ring**

Haohmaru was easily blocking some basic attacks from Clark as Genjuro stormed down to ringside. Lau Chan had also made his choice, and run over to Haohmaru.

As Genjuro came up to Haohmaru, he noted in irritation that Clark was blocking his path. "Insolent dog! Out of my way because only I can cruch Haohmaru like the total loser that he is and beat him up really hard and smack him around and you soldier-boy can't do anything like that because you are just a wussy girly-man who wears a baseball cap and thinks it appropriate fighting apparel and more importantly because only I shall destroy Haohmaru nobody else just me!" With that Genjuro leapt upwards in a purple uppercut, slashing Clark out of the ring.

Clark landed in Sinistar. Lucky thing for him he exploded in vacuum before the Sinistar found him.

Haohmaru and Genjuro began slashing powerfully at one another. Each blocked the other's shots with ease. The only conversation were their battle cries.

"HA!" (clang)

"HIYYYYYYARGH!" (ching)

"HO!" (swoosh)

"AAAAYYYYYYYAAGGGH!" (blang)

Meanwhile, Guy, wisely staying away from the Haohmaru/Genjuro clash, was watching Galford. The ninja was standing stock-still... then, suddenly, he disappeared. Guy's eyes widened.

Breaking into a run, he lashed out with a sliding kick. The kick connected with Galford's leg, and threw him off balance. While the ninja was dizzy, the Bushitsu master grabbed him and threw him over the edge.

Galford landed in Smurf Village.

Papa Smurf had had enough. "Look! I said maybe **one** fighter could drop in here! That's all I agreed to! Why can't you drop somewhere else? Like Gargamel's house?"

Galford stood. "Gargamel? Who's Gargamel?"

"An evil wizard, who tries to catch us and eat us. He lives off in that direction..." Papa Smurf gestured.

"An evil wizard? Threatening innocents? We can't have that! C'mon, Poppy! There's wrongs to right and trash to take out!"

"Woof!"

With that, Galford ran at top speed, Poppy close behind, in the direction Papa Smurf had gestured.

Papa Smurf was surprised. But good surprised.

Up in the ring, Lau was trying to beat up on Haohmaru. To no avail.

"HO! WHY, OLD MAN, DO YOU ATTEMPT TO STRIKE AT ME, THAT IS I, THE LEGENDARY HAOHMARU?" (clang!) "AFTER ALL, PERHAPS ONE OF YOUR INFAMY WOULD BE BETTER OFF MENDING THE INFAMOUS FENCES HE HAS BROKEN (TO USE A LEGENDARY METAPHOR)!"

"What do you mean?"

"HA! I OF COURSE REFER TO YOUR WELL-KNOWN FAILURE TO PROPERLY BRING UP YOUR ONLY DAUGHTER! IS IT NOT TRUE THAT SHE LOATHES THE VERY SIGHT OF YOU? IS IT NOT TRUE THAT THE WHOLE MULTIVERSE SEES YOU AS AN EXCELLENT FIGHTER AND BAD FATHER?"

Lau yowled in pain. "Stop it!"

"WHAT? ALL I SAID WAS THAT YOU WERE A BAD FATHER..."

"Aggggggh! I can't take this!"

"WHY DO YOU RECOIL SO WHEN I SAY THE WORDS 'BAD FATHER'?"

"AGh! AgH! AGH!"

"PERHAPS THESE WORDS, 'BAD FATHER'... CAUSE YOU PAIN? IF SO..." Haohmaru was interrupted by Lau screaming and jumping over the "ropes". Dauntless he continued. "I FULLY APOLOGIZE! ONE SHOULD ONLY BE GIVEN PAIN BY THE FIST OR THE BLADE OR POSSIBLY THE SAKE BOTTLE!"

Lau landed in G.I. Joe. Rock-N-Roll looked at him.

"Odd...I dunno who the new guy is..."

Snake-Eyes, as was his wont, said nothing.

* * *

**Room 245, RumbleDome Hotel**

"So, we have an agreement." Demitri sat back and smiled as he wiped his mouth.

M. Bison was slumped in the chair. He said nothing, although he was still quite conscious.

"Perhaps I didn't make myself clear. Who am I, Bison?"

Bison whispered something.

"Prey... speak louder."

"Master. You are my master." Bison's eyes softened as he said the word.

"Excellent." A pause. "And what will you do?"

"I will send all my Shadoloo troopers..."

"HALF your Shadoloo troopers..."

"Yes...half my Shadoloo troopers in an attack against Shao Kahn."

"And what will you do with the remaining half?"

"I bring them here, to act as your bodyguard."

"Congratulations." He turned away and looked at Morrigan. "Do we have progress?"

Takuma Sakazaki's body was beaten and bruised from head to toe. The Kyokogenryu master was naked save for his briefs...his gi had been burnt and applied to his skin.

Morrigan sighed. "Sadly, no. The old man is more stubborn than any fighter I've tried to dominate."

Demitri recalled the famed Sakazaki arguments. "Probably exceedingly used to equally stubborn opponents, given his family. Cease the torture..."

Morrigan pouted. "It was just getting fun."

"Shut up. I don't want him killed. Take your slaves back down to the Eliminated seating... I require a presence there. While you are there, enslave Bison's servants... who were they again?" He addressed the question to Bison.

"Sodom, Adon, Sagat, and Birdie..."

"I asked for the ones in the Eliminated seating, Bison."

"My apologies... I am sorry..."

"Don't let it happen again." He turned back to Morrigan. "You understand your orders?"

"Yeah."

"**What?**"

She swallowed. Hard. "Yes, master."

"Better."

* * *

**Eliminated Seating**

Ryo and Yoshimitsu strode into the seats quickly. They made their way over to the seats where Andy Bogard and Charlotte were. A number of fighters had joined them: Heavy D! and Anakaris, Caffeine Nicotine and Rasputin, Mudman, and Colossus, and Lei Wulong. Nobody looked happy.

Charlotte spoke before anyone else could. "Where are the others?"

Yoshimitsu answered. "Two out of six injured, a further two out of six playing decoy. Thus, four out of six heroic fighters recommend that Ryo Sakazaki start telling everybody about the evil plot!"

Ryo nodded. "All right. Everybody, sit down and shut up. I don't have much time here."

Meanwhile, over in another corner, Asamiya Athena was napping on a bench. The drugs had worn off, but with that came a wave of weariness...and she didn't see the need to fight it.

* * *

**The Ring**

Juggernaut was making his way over to Haohmaru, lumbering slowly. Guy, seeing the giant's target, broke into a run. Leaping into a speedy roundhouse kick...

...he bounced off.

Juggernaut turned. He received a Haohshohkohken full in the face from Yuri Sakazaki.

This made him blink.

"Nothing can stop the Juggernaut!" he yelled. Picking up Guy, he started strangling the Bushitsu fighter. Guy gagged.

Rose and Yuri continued launching projectiles at the giant, to no avail. It was as if they weren't doing damage.

Juggernaut threw Guy aside. Guy moaned in pain as he fell- but this was of no concern to Cain Marko. Shrugging off repeated Super Scarf Shots from Rose and Haohshohkohkens from Yuri, he turned back to Haohmaru...

...and saw Donovan Bane standing in his path.

Donovan pointed his sword at the mutant. "I don't know who you are. I don't _care_ who you are. But, seeing as how my dear friend Rose feels it necessary to stop you, I think I'll do just that."

Juggernaut growled. "You don't seriously think you can stop me, do you?"

"No. But together we can."

"Who is this "we" you speak of?"

"Me and Kilshred here."

"Who?"

The sword started talking. "hi. i'm kilshred. me and donovan go waayyyyy back. so, without further ado, let's kill you!"

Donovan leapt.

Meanwhile, Rose's attention was being diverted by Benimaru Nikkaido.

"Oooooh, girlfriend, I gotta tell you, the scarf is a hit! One hundred percent dynamite! But that doesn't mean it's _perfect_. We have to make some alterations. Like, that dress is _so_ Twenties. That's a little retro even for me, right? And _pumps_? PUMPS? Table dancers wear pumps. If you want that fighting look, we simply _have_ to get you some slippers or something... I don't want you fighting barefoot, it would ruin the style thing you've got going here with that scarf and that freaky hairstyle... plus, the hose _works_..."

Rose had had enough. "SHUT UP!" She quickly Scarf Snapped the fighter over the "ropes". Benimaru landed in Tapper, where he promptly had to fight off a bar full of rednecks.

Meanwhile, various insults were being traded by Juggernaut and Donovan. Neither could hurt the other: Juggernaut was failing to hit the faster Donovan, but Donovan's blows couldn't pierce the Juggernaut's blocks.

Over in another corner, Ryu was interestedly paying attention to a yelling match Shura was having with Joe Higashi and Adon. The subject seemed to be "who's the best Muay Thai fighter?" Shura was so caught up in his argument he hadn't even entered the ring yet.

Shura ended it. "Okay! I'll prove it! I'll go in and eliminate RYU! He can't beat me! NOBODY can beat me!"

Ryu prepared himself mentally. It took concentration to fight...that's why he had fireballed Guy when his friend had tried to bother him with some boring plot. Ryu wasn't interested. The only villain worth worrying about was Akuma, and that villain was sitting back, watching the show in the ring.

Shura, meanwhile, had marched up to the ring and entered. He took half-a-second to raise his arms triumphantly to the audience.

At that point, Ryu slammed the World Hero with a Dragon Punch that sent him flying out of the ring and into Virtua Cop 2. A horrible villain had shot him fifty times by the next two seconds.

During all this, of course, Genjuro and Haohmaru had continued their duel Both fighters were shouting now.

"HA! YOU HAVE NO CHANCE AGAINST A LEGEND OF MY CALIBRE (WHICH I HAVE BEEN ASSURED BY FIREARMS EXPERTS TO BE FORTY-FIVE CENTIMETERS,  
APPARENTLY A WEAPON OF LEGENDARY STATUS, WHICH IS APPROPRIATE AS IT DESCRIBES ME)..."

"I will mutilate you and decimate you and chop off your hand then I will chop off your other hand then I will slap you with your own hand then I will cut off your right leg at the knee then I will kick you in the crotch with your own foot..."

"...NOTE, HOWEVER, THAT I HAVE ALSO BEEN DESCRIBED AS "THE WINNER OF LAST YEAR'S TOURNAMENT" WHICH, ALTHOUGH AN HONOR, PALES IN COMPARISON TO THE HONOR I RECEIVED WHEN I DEFEATED AMAKUSA SINGLEHANDEDLY AND SAVED JAPAN FOR THE SEVENTEENTH TIME, NONE OF WHICH A NONLEGEND LIKE YOU HAS DONE..."

"...and then I will cut out your heart and I will chew on it and maybe season it with a little picante sauce which will not hide the taste of your inborn loserness and then I will go on a twelve city tour with your heart as the sole exhibit and make lots of money which I will use to build a large bomb and then I will return and blow you up because you won't be dead yet because I have not allowed you to die because you can't die until I say you can..."

"...AND IT WILL BE AN HONOR TO DEFEAT YOU IN ONE-ON-ONE COMBAT, AS I WOULD HAVE LAST YEAR HAD YOU FELT IT UNNECCESSARY TO CHEAT (WHICH YOU DIDN'T SO YOU DID) AND THUS I SHALL SLAY YOU IN A MERCIFULLY LEGENDARY FASHION..."

"...and then I will grab your entrails and make sausages out of them and then I will cut off each individual finger and make cookies out of them and then I will go to the delicatessen to get all the meat properly seasoned and then I will have a picnic with Oshizu under the stars as we eat your flesh although she might not want to at first she will eventually come around because your loserness taste will be removed with a little chutney..."

Meanwhile, Ryu had noted that Juggernaut was starting to flag under the contined punishment from Rose, Yuri, Donovan, and Guy. The Shokotan fighter bided his time, then charged his chi... and launched a large Shinkuu Hadouken. The massive fireball slammed right into the flat of Juggernaut's back. The massive mutant sprawled forward and tripped over the "ropes".

Juggernaut also landed in Sinistar. Being immune to vacuum, he didn't blow up before the Sinistar arrived. Of course, when it did, it knocked him into the nearest sun.

* * *

**Room 109, RumbleDome Hotel**

So, are we agreed, then? Together we will crush our opposition and take Haohmaru's soul for our use! Shuma Gorath said in its odd tones.

"I have been for this from the start..." muttered Blackheart. "With only a third of Haohmaru's soul, I can take Hell as mine own..."

Both of them looked at Doctor Doom. Doom stared impassively at them before turning his eyes to his gauntlet, where he pressed a small button. It started beeping quickly.

"What is that?" Blackheart demanded.

"My recording of your plot." replied Doom. "I have just forwarded it to one of the media agencies covering this sporting event."

Blackheart stood and balled its hands into fists. "You had better have a good reason, human."

"I have the best reason. Doom does not traffic in souls!" With that, the dictator of Latveria shot a pair of power blasts at Shuma-Gorath and Blackheart.

His plan had worked. Now he would head home, his task done. Opening a portal with his sorceries, Doom began to step through.

However, as he entered the portal, the edges altered colour.

Blackheart smiled, even though he knew he would not garner Haohmaru's soul. He had successfully altered Doom's path. His body might land in Latveria, but his soul and spirit were trapped in the gateway.

Revenge often sweetened these sorts of affairs...

* * *

**Sub-Basement 119-A5Y**

Saishu Kusanagi was in pain. This wolfman was a capable fighter. He was holding his own, but he would have to retreat soon. A Source Uppercut gave him some room to maneuver, as Jon Talbain collapsed back.

Baek had been little help. After one thrashing from his son (the fool), the Rave Warrior had run like a coward. "Answering Number 27's hails" indeed. What did the man think he, Saishu Kusanagi, head of the clan, would do once he found him? And how many fingernails did he think he would have left?

Saishu would have been pounded into the ground by now were it not for the fact that Kyo was standing a distance away. Rage was plain on his face, yet he kept the Source veiled in his hands. No crackles, no sparks. The boy had control. Pride swelled up in Saishu depsite his opposition to his son's foolish ideals.

Saishu thought dark thoughts. When would he learn? When would Kyo learn that the Dark Side was the sole course? When would his son learn the simple joys of delivering pain, of enjoying power, of worshipping evil? When would Kyo follow the path set out for him by destiny?

However, now was not the time to deliberate over such things. Not when he was actually starting to lose by the slimmest of margins.

As Jon jumped away, jaws snapping, Saishu ran forward in a Mad Rush. The Rush caught the wolfman as he landed, and the sweet feel of the Source coursed through Saishu's body as he channeled the energy onto Jon. The were fell in a heap. Saishu took the opportunity to run. He would deal with Baek when he found the coward.

Jon staggered to his feet. "WHY THE HELL DIDN'T YOU HELP?"

Kyo looked angry. "I didn't dare. He's my father. If I fought him, I could turn to the Dark Side of the Source, and then you would've had two enemies to fight."

Jon considered this. "Good point." (Werewolves generally don't hold grudges unless it's really important.) "Come on, let's get back to the good-guys section."

Kyo looked confused. "Huh? WHAT are you talking about? There isn't a villain involved, is there?"

Jon grinned, exposing many many many teeth. "More n' one. I'll tell ya about it on the way, kid."

* * *

**The Ring**

Nightwolf was busily comboing the hell out of Ryoko when suddenly he found that he couldn't move.

He was very cold. Why was he cold?

His answer came as a big blobby fist knocked him senseless and over the "ropes". Bad Mister Frosty grinned. Well, he grinned as much as anyone can grin when their mouth consists of a line of coal chunks.

Nightwolf landed in T. Hawk's stage on Super Street Fighter 2. T. Hawk waved. "Welcome to Mexico. I am T. Hawk, shaman of my people."

"I am Nightwolf, shaman of **my** people."

The two looked at each other for a second. An uncomfortable silence ensued.

Finally Nightwolf broke it. "Got any good Indian Agency jokes?"

Meanwhile, Ryoko was up again, and ran over to Yuri. "Ha ha ha ha ha, you're cuter than me!"

Yuri shrugged. "I wouldn't know, really."

"Well, gee, who would?"

"Did you check with Donovan here?"

Ryoko grinned, obviously pleased. "Yep! I'm not cute! Right, Donovan?"

Donovan looked at her for a bit. Then: "You know, you're cuter than you were a few seconds ago... and, come to think of it, you're getting steadily cuter. You're starting to look downright huggable."

Ryoko's eyes widened. She rushed Donovan, knocking him down. Pinning his shoulders to the mat with her knees, she began punching him in the face.

"I!"

"AM!"

"NOT!"

"CUTE!"

Yuri calmly picked up the frothing-at-the-mouth Ryoko and heaved her over the edge. Ryoko landed in Aliens.

Ripley nudged Hicks. "Who's that cute little girl?"

Ryoko howled in anger. Wheeling around, she glared at Ripley. "WHO SAID THAT?"

Ripley was taken aback. "Um, one of those Aliens over there..." She pointed to a nest of about fifty.

Ryoko broke into a run for the Aliens. The Aliens, although incapable of advanced logical thought, were smart enough to run for their lives.

On the other side of the ring, Charlie was calmly blocking Liu Kang's Bicycle Kick. The famed "gobblegobblegobblegobblegobble" was to no avail as Liu bounced off. Charlie took the pause to initiate the Sonic Blade. Three individual Sonic Booms slammed into Liu Kang in quick succession. Liu stood up, somewhat wobbly. Charlie proceeded to pound the Mortal Kombatant with his Flash Kick, which launched Liu Kang out of the ring and into DJ Boy. Getting up, he heard one of the boomboxes nearby playing "Staying Alive."

"All RIGHT! Crank it!" He started dancing.

Guy had noticed the reappearance of Ryo and Yoshimitsu, missing four fighters. He turned to Donovan Bane. "We need to get some more people in the Eliminated seating... we've lost quite a few."

Donovan rubbed his chin. "Hmmmm. Sounds like an excellent idea. How do we do that?"

Guy quickly grabbed him and tossed him over the "ropes".

"Like that, and sorry..."

Donovan landed in Zombies Ate My Neighbours.

He hefted Kilshred. "Geeez, talk about gratitude. Okay. Time to kill some monsters."

Suddenly, he saw Sarah Bryant land beside him. (Storm had used a Tornado Toss to send the Virtua Fighter flying.) He smiled. "Kilshred! We must protect the innocent!" He noted that Sarah was kind of spaced out. "Or, in this case, the stoned!"

"i don't recall that being part of our mission..."

"Shut up. Look at her! She's not half bad, huh?"

"what about the sharp edges?"

* * *

_Original Authors_

Chris "Birdman" Bird  
Brant Rogers  
Scott Johnson  
Austin Loomis


	18. Section 9

**Section Nine**

**The Ring**

**"ROBERT GARCIA!"** (KOF95)

"Yes! It is I, the most swaggering of the swaggerers, the coolest of them all, the one who's so hip he has trouble seeing his pelvis! Damn, but I'm good! Of course, I owe all this to my teacher, Takuma Sakazaki, and my pal Ryo, and my girlfriend Yuri..."

Yuri ran up to him as he entered the ring. "What took you? You're blustering again... what did you do this time?"

Robert tried to portray innocence and failed. "Um. Nothing."

"Did you buy another new car?"

Robert looked guilty.

* * *

**Somewhere Else**

Doom, but not Doom, certainly not Doom's body for this one was not scarred, floated through mist. But was it really mist? Maybe it was smoke. No, change that. Shadows. Shadows merging and dissolving... no, colours. Disorienting colours surrounding him, passing through him at times.

Is this death? Doom mused.

The colours were suddenly shadows again, but not quite shadows... more like walls in his path... but the walls were receding and breaking apart, and there was light, an intense light, normally it would hurt but right now it didn't for some odd reason even though it was like staring into the sun...

I can only surmise that I am to go there.

Doom went.

* * *

**The Ring**

**"MARSHALL LAW!"** (T2)

Fei Long was sitting in a corner, trying very hard not to cry. His hopes again had been dashed. Bruce wasn't alive. This wasn't Bruce.

Life simply wasn't fair.

* * *

**"SUB-ZERO!"** (MK3)

The entire robot population of the Eliminated seating started shooting at the ring. Of course, the forcefield automatically caught the shots. Dural, the only robot present without a projectile, jumped up and down a lot in anger.

Up in the booth, Birdman stared down. "What the hell are they all doing?"

Of course, Sub-Zero was totally oblivious to everything... except the bothersome tabloid reporter.

"Excuse me! Could you please tell us whether or not you're the Sub-Zero who fought in the first Mortal Kombat tourney, or the one who travelled to the Outworld? People want to know!"

* * *

**"KIM DRAGON!"** (WHP)

"HAIT! HAIT! WA-TOW!"

Fei sunk lower. Kin Dragon was just another reminder of his pain.

Meanwhile, up in the stands, Ryoko had taken a seat next to the Silver Samurai.

The Silver Samurai looked at her. "You're awfully CUTE."

Ryoko looked at him. "You know, I've heard you SUCK."

The Samurai nodded, and pulled out a large jug. "Sake?"

"Please."

* * *

**"SAGAT!"** (SFA)

Sagat wasn't paying attention to the ring. His eyes were fixed on the Eliminated seating... and more to the point, on one man.

"It can't be. I killed you! You're dead! DEAD! I broke your spine! You can't be alive! You can't..."

But Donovan Bane was walking through the seats, to a group of fighters.

Sagat was scared.

* * *

**Eliminated Seating**

The group of Haohmaru's defenders had grown somewhat. Kyo Kusanagi had joined them, along with Jon Talbain. And Donovan Bane had just joined them. Mai Shiranui was being held by Andy Bogard.

Everybody was suddenly quite scared-looking for some reason.

"So, that's Shao Kahn and Bison, Rugal and Number 27. Only four of them? I think we can handle that..." said Charlotte.

Jon Talbain interrupted. "Waitaminit! What about Pyron and Mizuki?"

Ryo looked at him. "I was just getting to them. That's the thing... we won't know for another ten minutes or so."

Jon looked confused. "I don't get it."

Ryo nodded. "I know. The problem is Demitri."

Jon shook his head emphatically. "Nah. Demitri's a minor player in all this. He's just workin' for Pyron."

"Trust me. I heard him talking to Blue Mary..."

Andy Bogard interrupted. "Wait. Terry's Blue Mary?"

Mai Shiranui looked pained. "She's not 'Terry's Blue Mary.' She's her own person. They've barely started dating..."

Ryo stopped the argument before it could start. "Whatever! It doesn't matter, because Demitri's enslaved her."

Mai whitened, as did Andy. "Oh god..." muttered Andy. "How are we going to protect Terry?"

Ryo looked at him sadly. "We aren't. That's a minor problem. Right now are main concern is whether or not Demitri succeeded."

Heavy D! looked at him. "Succeeded at what?"

Ryo rubbed the forehead. He was getting a stress headache. "He was planning to enslave Pyron and Mizuki... maybe M. Bison if he got the chance. Plus, he was going to contact the Dark Guy once he got Mizuki. He's going to enter in about five minutes, so we'll know then."

Mudman's eyes widened behind his mask. "Woo-hoo! That's bad bad bad! If vampire gets demonic power, becomes much much very harder to defeat!"

"Great. Any ideas on how we can stop him? Think we could cut him off from his power source?"

Rasputin shook his head. "No chance. Demitri, assuming he gets this power, will be directly linked to a massive power source. It would be like trying to singlehandedly dam the Volga."

"Once again, terrific news. Does _anyone_ have an idea of how we can stop him?"

Caffeine Nicotine spoke up. "We could build an enchantment circle, lure him into it..."

Anakaris shook his head. "No. He's to smart to fall for that. But, we could use that circle to power up one of our own to fight him."

Donovan grinned fiercely. "Excellent. I have a little knowledge of enchantment circles... I could help with the construction and then stand guard."

Rasputin nodded. "Yes... it could probably be done. I have the neccessary skills to begin such an enchantment, even though it isn't my forte..."

Ryo grinned. "All right, then. We'll..."

Rasputin interrupted him. "I said 'probably'. We still have problems. Firstly, I need a power source to strengthen this enchantment sufficently. If we tried to do it without that, we'd be killed as the energy was sucked from our bodies and spirits. We need a fighter with a direct power link..."

Everyone fell silent as Kyo Kusanagi summoned the Source to his hands. After letting it play over his palms for a few seconds, he ceased the flow. "Will that do?"

Rasputin bowed. "Excellently. But that's not all. Secondly, we need someone with a link to divine power. None of us have that..."

Ryo pointed to the newly entered Nightwolf. "Will he do?"

Rasputin looked at him for a bare second. "Yes... he has traces of the divine in his aura. We can use him."

Ryo looked at him. "You said secondly. Is there a thirdly?"

Rasputin looked peeved. "Yes. Well. Finally, my enchantment skill is not _quite_ good enough to finish off this enchantment, not even with all the magic-users here helping me out. I need someone specialized in enchantment, and the only person I can think of who even fits the bill is Rose."

Ryo's face fell. "And she's still in the ring, and we have no way of contacting her."

Rasputin shrugged. "Hopefully, she'll be eliminated. If she does, we only need her for the final segments of the spell anyway... but we can't do it without her."

Ryo thought for a second. "You only need Rose for the end?"

"Yes."

A decision was quickly made. "Okay. Take the mages and find a section of the sub-basement with only one entrance to it, so it's defensible. We need some guys to help Donovan guard them..."

Lei Wulong raised his hand. "I volunteer."

Heavy D! stood up (incidentally towering over everyone). "Me too. If one of those stinkin' vampires comes around, I can giv'im what for."

Ryo looked confused. He didn't seem any more lucid when Heavy D! opened his jacket and revealed a foot-long wooden stake attached inside.

"Where the hell did you get that?"

"Ah, it was a gift from my second cousin at a family reunion a couple months back. Y'may have hearda him... he's called Vampire Hunter D..."

Everyone digested this information for about two seconds before Ryo spoke up. "Whatever. Okay, those who are leaving, get going. I'm gonna go find my dad...who's with me?"

Mai spoke up. "Well, for a start, you aren't."

"What?"

"Look, Andy and I are used to working together..." She noticed Andy smiling faintly and blushed. "Not like _that_, I didn't mean that." She elbowed him. Then she saw the faintly pained look on Ryo's face. "Sorry, Ryo. Anyway, we'll go. You stay here with...whoever's left..."

Yoshimitsu looked offended.

Ryo gave in. "You're _sure_ about this? I'll go."

"No, you won't." Mai got up, leading Andy as she left.

Ryo suppressed a scandalous thought about what they'd do once they got out of sight. It wouldn't happen. They weren't so lust-crazed that they'd ignore the fact that the world was in danger. (Of course, a part of him was loudly saying "Bollocks" but he ignored it.)

Donovan Bane had hung back for a few seconds. He looked at Ryo.

"Y'know, kid, you're being one hell of a leader here. You should consider soldierin', not fightin'." With that he left.

Ryo looked after him. "I'm not the leader! I'm a lousy leader! Rasputin's in charge!" But Donovan was gone.

Suddenly he looked around. Yoshimitsu was the only one left.

"Yoshi, where's everybody else? I don't recall Colossus or Jon Talbain or Charlotte saying they'd stand guard."

"The answers my friend, are blowin' in the wind. The answers are blowin' in the wind."

Ryo was puzzled. Where were they?

* * *

**The Ring**

**"MAGNETO!"** (XM:COTA)

Magneto floated down to the ring. Everything went silent for a second.

Guy could be seen to mouth something like "Oh shid." But lipreading techniques aren't that easy these days. We could be wrong.

* * *

**"JUBEI YAGYU!"** (SS2)

"Kill Haohmaru... I must kill Haohmaru..."

As Jubei jumped into the ring, Guy ran over to him (fresh from being zapped by Magneto). "Jubei! Man, glad you could make it. We need reinforcements to take out..."

He never finished his sentence, as Jubei began a Hasso Happa on his body. Blades sliced at Guy, and the Bushitsu master fell back in pain.

Rose saw this. "What are you DOING?" She was answered as Jubei began running at her.

* * *

**"CINDER!"** (KI)

Still slightly wobbly from the beating Captain Kidd had given him, Cinder staggered down to ringside. Stopping for half-a-moment, he practiced a quick flipkick to make sure he was all right. When he landed on his feet, he grinned and entered the ring.

Of course, he didn't know about the small steel sign Glacius had stuck on his back which read: PuT mE oUt.

* * *

**Room 519, RumbleDome Hotel**

Number 27's eyes widened behind his sunglasses.

He turned on his com unit. "Rugal?"

"What?" Rugal's voice was clear if somewhat tinny. But, that was the price one paid for a private channel.

"We have trouble."

"What is it now? You didn't insult Magneto, did you?"

"No, no... he's with us."

"Good. What's the problem, then?"

"Someone else has control of Jago."

"Huh? I thought..."

"I still have control of his soul, yes, but Jago's body has been possessed. I can't stop that."

"Damn. Cut our losses and destroy him."

"That would be easier if he were still here. He's down in the lineup as we speak to enter the ring..."

* * *

**The Ring**

**"SHEEVA!"** (MK3)

Sheeva was visibly confused. Kintaro was a traitor, but the Kahn was acting dishonorably, but Kintaro had broken oath when he fought Kahn, but the Kahn was dishonorable so there was no harm in breaking the oath...

* * *

**"WULF!"** (TK)

Wulf ran down to ringside, brandishing his sword.

"Excalibur!" he shouted.

Meanwhile, Kilshred, in the Eliminated seating, responded. "ah, who cares. i'm better than your crummy sword any day... probably made outta tin..."

and, the final fighter of this section...

* * *

**"DEMITRI MAXIMOV!"** (DS2)

The Dome darkened as lights went out everywhere. One lone spotlight illuminated Demitri as he strode arrogantly down to the ring. His orchestral theme blared out of the speakers as intricate violin harmonies meshed with a steady techno beat.

His aura stretched out occasionally, to snap at fingers. Dressed entirely in blue, he cut quite a different figure.

Axel Hawk, Birdman's current broadcast partner, noticed this. "Geez. He looks like an evil Superman or somethin'."

Birdman said nothing. His jaw was down. Any further down and it would have hit the floor.

Of course, the impressiveness of Demitri's entrance was doubled when he started shooting fireballs at all in the ring. But these weren't his usual Wipeouts... these were Vampire Rage fireballs, screaming and growling as they approached their targets.

Guy, realizing the danger, ran in at Demitri, but the vampire was ready for him... and leapt up into a Demon Cradle, blue swirls surrounding his body as he did so.

"BRANT!" Birdman yelled into the com.

"I don't know how he did it! I don't! But now, it looks like his energy meter is stuck at the maximum level!"

Birdman's eyes widened.

In the Eliminated seating, Ryo groaned. "He did it. He bloody did it."

* * *

**Sub-Basement 328-34E**

Charlotte ran through another stairwell.

All this talking, this blabbering, and the fools had yet to realize that it was painfully simple to defeat evil. All they had to do was kill the evildoers. It wasn't hard. And her beloved Haohmaru would be free.

Suddenly, she heard someone coming up behind her. Her first challenge. She readied her epee...

...and lowered it as Colossus ran into the room.

"Why did you follow me?"

"My fellow X-Men have disappeared here. I wish to search for them. I believe that maybe you might be going in the right direction anyway."

Charlotte nodded. "Good thin-"

Her sentence was cut off as an Optic Blast hammered her in the back. Colossus saw his friend Scott grin as the French woman was knocked to her knees.

"Scott! Why do you do this? She is not evil!"

Cyclops looked at his teammate. "It's not your fault, Piotr! Don't worry! We can show you the way!" As he entered the room, Janne and Wolf entered in behind him.

Charlotte lunged to her feet. "I will show you MY way, plebians!" She thrust out with her epee.

WHO WILL LIVE?  
WHO WILL DIE?  
WHO IS NOW THE LEADER OF THE GOOD GUYS?

* * *

_Original Authors_

Chris "Birdman" Bird  
Brant Rogers  
Scott Johnson  
Austin Loomis


	19. Section 9 - Results

**Section Nine - Results**

**The Ring**

Ryu ducked again.

He'd been ducking for quite some time now. Storm had apparently made it her overriding concern to make sure that he got nowhere near to Haohmaru. One chat with Rose and all of a sudden she was trying to stop him? Ryu simply didn't understand what Rose had against him, trying to stop him from fighting.

Of course, none of this kept Ryu from jumping over Storm's Typhoon and airblocking her Lightning Attack. It looked like an impressive attack, but Ryu had already noticed the flaw. As she dropped out of her attack, he was ready for her, and Dragon Punched her out of the ring. Storm landed in Warriors of Fate. A whole lot of evil Chinese soldiers (as opposed to the good Chinese soldier heroes) looked at her.

"Oh, Goddess..."

"Who is this woman?"

"I don't know. Let's kill her."

"You nuts? Look at her! Think of what she'd make us if we sold her to the Emperor!"

A fourth grinned lavisciously. "Why sell her to the Empire?"

He had forgotten that languages were meaningless when interpreting facial expressions, and fell prey to a Hail Storm... as did all his compatriots.

As this happened, Haohmaru and Genjuro were still dueling one another.

"...OF COURSE, GENJURO, ONE OF YOUR UNLEGENDARY STATUS CANNOT DEFEAT ME, FOR INDEED YOU HAVE NEVER DEFEATEN ME ANYWAY! HO! IT MIGHT BE SUGGESTED THAT YOU ARE INFERIOR TO MY LEGENDARINESS (ALTHOUGH EVERYONE IS, MY LEGENDARY MANNERS KEEP ME FROM POINTING THIS OUT TO MOST PEOPLE, BUT FOR YOUR UNLEGENDARY SELF I MAKE AN EXCEPTION)..."

"...and then I will get a big big axe and chop your head off and then I will put your head on a stick and then I will pierce your jaw with another stick so that when I move the sticks I move your mouth and then I will tour Japan with your loser head and play with the children and make your mouth move as I say in a squeaky voice that is obviously meant to be you 'I am Haohmaru, I am a big loser, loser is me, look at me the loser' and the children will laugh..."

"IF I WERE TO GET ANGRY (OF COURSE, I NEVER DO. GETTING ANGRY IS FOR NON-LEGENDS) I MIGHT INDEED GET ANGRY AT YOU, FOR YOU HAVE SLANDERED MANY OF MY COMPATRIOTS' NAMES IN YOUR VAIN ATTEMPTS TO PROVE YOURSELF MY BETTER... I AM REMINDED OF THE TIME I WAS DUELING WITH THE FAIR CHARLOTTE,  
AND YOU INTERRUPTED US DEMANDING TO FIGHT ME AND CALLING HER... I BELIEVE THE TERM WAS "LOSER SLUT", IF MY LEGENDARY MEMORY RECALLS CORRECTLY...OF COURSE, THE FAIR CHARLOTTE BEAT THE NON-LEGENDARY STUFFING OUT OF YOU, AND I DO NOT NEED TO FIGHT HER OWN BATTLES FOR HER AS SHE IS A CAPABLE FIGHTER (ALBEIT NOT A LEGEND SUCH AS I) BUT I _WANT_ TO SIMPLY BECAUSE I WILL DO IT INESTIMABLY BETTER IN MY OWN LEGENDARY WAY!"

"...and then I will grab Neinhalt Sieger's glove because he is a wussy loser who couldn't beat me if I died first and then I will come and I will beat your dead body into a fine paste with it and then I will go to San Francisco and I will steal one of those 'surfboards' and although the champion of the losers Galford will try to stop me he won't because he is nearly as big a loser as yourself and then I will return to Japan and I will surf all over your dead paste of a body and I will hang ten and everything..."

They were completely oblivious to everything. Especially Kim Dragon, newly arrived, duking it out with Bad Mister Frosty.

"HAIT HAIT HAIT HAIT WA-TOW!" The World Hero kiapped as he kicked Bad Mister Frosty repeatedly. He stood back and gaped.

Bad Mister Frosty was standing there, unharmed. Five footprints, in an almost star-pattern, were on his chest. The coal chunks that were the snowman's mouth moved upwards.

"Can't kill what don't live, loud man."

"But you can rid yourself of it." boomed Sagat, standing behind the snowman. One Tiger Blow and the Clay FIghter was knocked out of the ring. He landed in MK3's Hell and promptly began melting.

Sheeva was also starting her upward course over the "ropes". She had decided to follow orders and go after Haohmaru. However, first Genjuro, then Haohmaru had sliced her up, then both of them had launched themselves upwards into their respective uppercut maneuvers, sending her out of the ring.

Sheeva landed in Mr. Do's Castle. Mr. Do ran like hell.

* * *

**Eliminated Seating**

Morrigan arrived, with Psylocke in tow. Her other slaves were going after a couple of would-be heroes elsewhere.

Suddenly, thought blared into her head. "MORRIGAN!"

Barely managing to keep herself from screaming in pain, she responded. "Demitri, be quieter...that hurt.""

"I don't care. Return to the room."

"What? But you said..."

"I know. However, with the presence of Magneto in the ring, and myself en route, it soon becomes imperative that we have our full force in the ring. Inform Lord Raptor, Shura, Fuuma, Ryoko, Neo-Dio, and Erick...they shall follow. Our full force *must* be ready in our room."

"But why?"

The mental equivalent of a smile ghosted across Morrigan's mind for a bare second. "You will see. Incidentally, Pyron has captured our dear friend, Jon Talbain...the dog was trying to scout out our location when Pyron and Mizuki caught him."

Morrigan hated Jon Talbain every bit as much as Demitri did. "Oooooh. What are we going to do with him?"

"There is a folding silver cage in my baggage. Get it and place him in it. He will completely unable to move in there, and he will witness our greatest triumph."

Morrigan pouted. "We WILL kill him, right?"

"But of course."

Something occurred to Morrigan. "How did you know to bring a cage?"

The smile-pause happened again. "I believe in being prepared."

The communication broke off. Morrigan smiled. "Rapty! Gather up the troops... we're heading back to the fort!"

* * *

**The Ring**

Magneto was laying waste to the whole ring. Yuri Sakazaki and Robert Garcia were barely evading his Magnetic Blasts, and Rose was Soul Reflecting every shot aimed at her, absorbing more and more chi energy into her system. She was starting to glow.

Meanwhile, Ryu and Guy were ducking and weaving for all they were worth. Unfortunately, this meant they were getting hit a lot.

In the middle of the carnage, Marshall Law was jumping over everybody with his huge hangtime. He landed next to Haohmaru and Genjuro,  
and kickflipped both of them to the mat.

"HA! DO YOU MIND? I WAS ATTEMPTING TO DISPOSE OF MY ENEMY IN MY OWN LEGENDARY WAY..."

"Only I can eliminate Haohmaru for it is my destiny and no one else can because you are all losers who can't eliminate a stupid man like him..."

Marshall Law suddenly realized he'd made a mistake, and started backing away, slowly. Unfortunately, this gave Robert Garcia just enough time to Haohshohkohken the Rave Warrior over the "ropes". Law landed in Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story.

Turning around, he saw his idol. "Bruce! Bruce!"

The master fighter looked down at a mirror image of himself bowed at his feet. "Who are you...?"

"Shut up and be worshipped!"

Genjuro and Haohmaru both saluted Robert. "THANK YOU!" they yelled as one. Then they returned to dueling.

Jubei Yagyu was also intent on interrupting the Genjuro/Haohmaru tussle. Katana and wakizashi in hands, he ran at top speed. "Kill Haohmaru! Must kill Haohmaru! Master wants him dead!"

He was interrupted by a Level 3 Super Soul Spark from Rose. The bluish fireball slammed into the samurai's side, knocking him down to the mat and groggy. Rose jumped in as he stood dizzily and kicked him twice. The Shodowner was knocked into the ropes, where he sizzled for a good long while. After he staggered forward again, a Scarf Snap from Rose knocked him out of the ring.

Jubei landed in Revolution X. Steven Tyler looked at him curiously. The rocker admired the clothes sense, and the eyepatch was cool, but the pants were just *too* baggy.

Charlie noticed Demitri entering the ring. (Well, so did everyone else, but they were all busy ducking and dodging Magneto's attacks to bother with the vampire.)

"Hey, scumbag!" he grinned as he tossed a Sonic Boom at the vampire. Demitri looked at him, much as one might look at a worm...then launched a Vampire Rage in response. The Sonic Boom was overwhelmed by the more powerful fireball, and Charlie barely managed to block.

Charlie was slightly worried, although he didn't let it show. "You're gonna have to do better than that, bloodsucker!"

Demitri looked amused. "You fancy yourself a hunter, hmmm? Well, then. Allow me to dispel your illusions." He rushed in. Charlie barely blocked the triple-strength Demon Cradle, and responded with a Flash Kick. Demitri went down, but was up again in a second...and caught the unprepared Charlie with another Vampire Rage. Charlie was knocked back by the deadly projectile... and was pushed into the "ropes". After a few seconds of shock, he stumbled forward. Demitri Demon Cradled him out of the ring.

Charlie landed in Basic Training. The sergeant looked at him. "ALL RIGHT, MAGGOT! YER GONNA RUN LAPS TILL YER FEET BLEED! NO, YER GONNA RUN LAPS TILL **MY** FEET BLEED!"

Demitri turned to see Magneto tossing Guy away handily. The rest of his opposition was down. Magneto was looking at the Haohmaru/Genjuro duel with some interest.

Then a Magnetic Beam shot out from his hands, separating the two.

Both fighters looked at Magneto indignantly.

"HO! I THINK YOU MISUNDERSTAND... WE'RE TRYING TO KILL ONE ANOTHER HERE..."

"Loser! I will spit you like a dog and then I will slit Haohmaru's throat and I will roast you both over a fire and..."

Neither of them finished their sentences, as Magneto jumped into the air and launched twin Magnetic Blasts at them repeatedly. Half-a-dozen Blasts slammed each of the Shodowners, sending them to the mat. As they staggered up to their feet, they could see Magneto landing.

"SHOCKWAVE!"

The massive attack devastated the ring. Rose, Robert Garcia, Wulf, Cinder, Kim Dragon, and Sagat were all caught in the blasts, but these were minor matters compared to the damage Haohmaru and Genjuro took. Both fighters were hurled out of the ring.

Neither showed up elsewhere.

Up in the booth, Birdman goggled. "BRANT!"

"Oh, don't worry about it...that's the Golden Axe II node... it's just that the dungeons aren't lit." Brant lied through his teeth.

Scott Johnson pulled Brant out into the hallway. "When are you going to tell him?"

"We aren't."

"What do you mean, we aren't? It's his tournament!"

"Doesn't matter. I've seen Birdman handle stress before. Last year, he nearly had a nervous breakdown when we included four extra fighters! Do you REALLY want to tell him there's a plot to destroy the Multiverse going on here?"

Scott looked angry. "I suppose you have a point."

"Thank you. Now, I have to find out where the hell they went, if you'll excuse me..."

* * *

**Room 245, RumbleDome Hotel**

Jon Talbain winced.

All around him, small silver bars impeded his movement. He was rather curled up as is, and still he occasionally touched the silver by accident- pain shooting through him every time he did.

And... Morrigan was walking into the room. Great. Great. JUST great. One of the few people in the Rumble who actively wanted him dead.

She immediately ran over to the cage. "Oh, look! It's Jon! Hi, Jon! Guess what, Jon! We're going to kill you, Jon! But first, we'll let you watch as we sacrifice Haohmaru, Jon!"

Jon's lips drew back from his teeth. "You? Gimme a break, Morribitch. You eliminated eleven fighters last year...this year you barely managed one. I think someone's been slacking."

Morrigan giggled. "What do I care? I've gotten great sex and I'm going to get oodles of power - maybe even a node or two."

"Well, you should care, because I'm pretty sure Haohmaru can take everyone in your little entourage without even blinking."

Morrigan's grin faded. She grabbed a small loose silver bar on top of the cage and poked Jon with it. Jon yelped in pain.

"Could not!" She poked him again. Jon tried to bite back a howl. "Doesn't matter, anyway. We'll get him, because we've made some special arrangements...and we've got you and Takuma Sakazaki prisoner." She didn't mention that she didn't know what the special arrangements were, or that she couldn't slave Takuma for some reason. However, Jon had noticed the latter.

"So, why didn't you make Takuma your little sex buddy anyway, Morri? I mean, he seems your type. Having troubles? Your blood getting a bit...weak?"

Morrigan licked her lips.

She hit him with the silver bar again. "Shut up." She pointed across the room. "Look at my new acquisitions. They're mine, Jonny boy. All mine. They enjoyed it."

Jon craned his neck to look. His eyes widened. "You turncoats! You stinkin' traitors!" He launched himself against the bars and was rewarded with pain more intense than anything he'd yet experienced. However, as he drew back, through the haze he noticed that the bars had bent. The cage was not built for strength, but solely on the purpose of containing a werewolf because of the silver bars. One more good hit and it would break, Jon was sure of it...

Morrigan, unaware of Jon's thoughts, giggled at his whimpering. Suddenly, her face went blank. Then: "All right, everyone! Here he comes!"

Suddenly, over a small red circle in the floor that Jon had previously not noticed, Haohmaru and Genjuro appeared, sprawling on the floor. Both got up to their feet.

"HO! APPARENTLY YOU HAVE DECIDED TO THROW A PARTY FOR ME! HOW KIND OF YOU TO PAY HOMAGE TO MY LEGENDARY ABILITIES UGH!" Haohmaru was interrupted as projectiles flew. Soul Fists, Psi-Blasts, Blue Whirls, and half-a-dozen other types of missiles slammed into Haohmaru from all directions.

Still, it wasn't enough to down the samurai. He staggered forward, off-balance, waving his katana dangerously as he did so. However, his poor positioning let Ryoko, Lord Raptor, Bob Wilson, Heihachi, and Jack all whale on him. Although he managed to slash Wilson and Heihachi back, the other three continued their assault.

Haohmaru was thrown back into a corner. Further projectiles slammed into him...occasionally one of them was a powered-up projectile. Shuddering with each additional blow, he couldn't even get up.

His thunderous voice was now weak. "ho... is it something i said? if so, i apologize, for a legend such as myself should never be rude..."

A final Super Soul Fist from Morrigan shut him up. The samurai slumped into unconsciousness.

During all this, Genjuro had looked on with some confusion. "Why are you killing Haohmaru? I should kill Haohmaru!"

Morrigan looked at him. "Tough noogies. He's ours."

Genjuro lunged forward, slashing Morrigan mightily. "IIIIIIII WILL KILL HAOHMARU! NONE OF YOU LOSERS! ME! ME! I AM DESTINED TO KILL HAOHMARU! NOT YOU! YOU LOSERS CANNOT KILL HIM! JUST ME!"

Suddenly, he slumped forward, stunned. Psylocke stood there, psychic knife emanating from fist. All the other fighters took this opportunity to finish the job she started.

Jon looked on. And howled.

* * *

**The Ring**

Kim Dragon was handing Sub-Zero a bucketful of pain. A Dragon Kick slammed into Sub-Zero, knocking the Lin Kuei down. As the Mortal Kombatant stood, he was quickly socked by Kim's Hundred Fists attack. Subby staggered back and stood dizzily.

Kim stood right in front of him and leapt on his back. Suddenly, all Sub-Zero could feel was feet kicking upwards into his jaw. He fell over the "ropes".

He landed in Smurf Village. Papa Smurf grimaced. "Why? Why? What is it? What did we do?"

Meanwhile, Cinder was in Demitri's way. The vampire wanted to attack Ryu (certainly, the Shokotan fighter would make an excellent addition to his legion) but this flaming peon was in his way.

Demitri decided to make an example out of the Instinctual Killer, and floated forward.

The Midnight Pleasure, as Cinder found out, was anything but. This was not the orgasmic bliss of a vampire's bite...this was pain, the mad slashings of Demitri's teeth lacerating his body then feet and fists slamming into him. Cinder was launched over the ropes and landed in Tetris, where he was promptly crushed by a falling T-block.

* * *

**Sub-Basement 328-34E**

Charlotte kissed her blade. It had served her well.

The floor now held three unconscious fighters. Cyclops was sprawled at Colossus' feet, while Wolf and Janne were on the other side of the room.

It had been simple, really. Charlote had managed to keep Wolf off guard with her epee long enough for Colossus to grab him and swing him into Janne, knocking them both out. Cyclops had proved a canny foe, but he was nothing to their combined power.

She noted her companion was crying a bit.

"My friend, why do you sorrow?"

Colossus looked at her, wiping his cheek. "I have been forced to fight a man I would call brother. He has been enslaved, and I do not know why...I must find out. We must go."

Charlotte nodded. "Very good. Let us continue on."

The two of them strode out of the room.

A minute or two later, Wolf blinked his eyes. He hurt all over. ALL over. He knew they'd lost. He had to gather up Cyclops and Janne and bring them back to the Mistress. Getting to his feet (moaning in pain as he did so) he staggered over to Janne's prone body and lifted.

* * *

**The Ring**

Guy finished tossing out Wulf quickly enough. The knight had been protesting the entire time. "It's just a flesh wound! I can still fiiiiiiii..." His voice trailed off as he disappeared through the field.

Wulf landed in Knights of the Round.

Arthur looked at him. "Where did you get Excalibur? I left it hanging..." He turned around, and saw Excalibur hanging where he left it.

Wulf suddenly realized he had to do some fast talking for the next fifteen minutes.

Guy then ran over to Robert Garcia and Yuri Sakazaki, who were holding their own against Demitri's Vampire Rages by countering with Haohshohkohkens or dodging.

Guy looked at them. "We need someone in the Eliminated seating. Everybody left except for Ryo and Yoshimitsu, and they haven't come back."

Robert groaned. "I just got here!"

Yuri smiled. "No prob. I'm losing heart... it just isn't the same without King and Mai around."

Robert looked at her. "What about me?"

Yuri looked at him in a no-nonsense kind of way. "Robert, you're my dear friend and I love you and there's lots of stuff I'd do for you..." she blushed a bit, "but there's a good reason we've never fought together. We start arguing, and then we don't do the... other stuff..." Yuri's blush grew redder.

"We don't argue! Who says we argue?"

"We argue all the time! We're arguing now! Look! We're yelling!"

"No we aren't! We're discussing heatedly!"

"We're ARGUING!"

Guy made a mental note to never get romantically involved with anyone named "Sakazaki." Demitri had left to go after Rose, but they hadn't even noticed, as they weren't looking that way anymore...and currently Kim Dragon was getting pummelled with Haohshohkohkens.

"So what if we're arguing, because I'm right! We fight great together! Look at us, we've been keeping the vampire off our backs and..."

"Simply standing here and firing Haohshohkohkens all day isn't _fighting_, Robert! It's just being a big gun battery! Anyway..."

"I'd rather be a big gun battery than not with you!" Robert was REALLY yelling now.

Yuri's eyes misted over. "Oh, Robert. You really mean that?" she said softly.

Robert kind of fumbled his words. "Um. Yeah. I do. I think."

Yuri hugged him fiercely. Robert kissed her on the lips. Guy slapped his head in exasperation. Kim Dragon wondered what the hell had been hitting him.

Yuri drew back. "Anyway. Bye." She then climbed up over Guy and jumped out of the ring.

Robert looked at Guy. "Do YOU understand women?"

Guy shook his head emphatically.

Yuri landed in Galford's stage in SS1. Someone handed her an apple. She started chewing.

* * *

_Original Authors_

Chris "Birdman" Bird  
Brant Rogers  
Scott Johnson  
Austin Loomis


	20. Section 10

**Section Ten**

**"RYOFU!"** (World Heroes Perfect)

The lumbering giant strode down to ringside, belching fire as he went.

Annie Hamilton and Jetta looked at him as he strode down to ringside.

Annie: "Not bad... good shoulders... nice and big..."

Jetta: "But his breath. Yuck."

* * *

**"JEFFRY MCWILD!"** (Virtua Fighter 2)

Jeffry cast his eyes about for his compatriot, Wolf Hawkfield. His friend was nowhere to be seen.

"Oh ho! Wolf! Come on, old buddy! You said you'd wait for me before we went to pick up women!"

* * *

**"JAGO!"** (Killer Instinct)

Jago had his eyes fixed squarely on Magneto as he jumped into the ring. The master mutant was busy defending himself against Guy and Rose, when suddenly Jago slammed into his back with a ten-hit combo, ending with his green-glowing sword slicing through Magneto's back.

Magneto fell in pain, but was up quickly enough. He looked at Jago. "So, your employer betrays me!"

Jago shook his head. "No! I work alone! I am not his puppet! I am DOOM! Defend yourself, Lensherr!"

Magneto was too surprised by the exclamation to block JagoDoom's fireball. He went down in flames.

Up in the Eliminated seating, Rugal pondered. So, Doctor Doom had ursurped control of Jago. Interesting. Rugal had always admired Doom's tyrannical abilities. Now he would be put to the test.

* * *

**"MIZUKI!"** (Samurai Showdown 2)

The slightly-stunned looking Mizuki wobbled down to ringside.

"Master says defeat the Haohmaru protectors and protect him. I can do that. Right, doggy?"

Her Demon Dog (named, quite appropriately enough, "Dog") was confused. Mizuki had never been so pliable before. She usually screamed as it ate flesh that was still alive, screamed in pleasure and joyful delight, but now she seemed kind of... out of it.

* * *

**Eliminated Seating**

As Yuri Sakazaki entered the seating (weaving her way around a dozen or so homicidal robots), she quickly ran over to Ryo and Yoshimitsu.

"So, how are things doing here?"

"Well, lemme see. We've got half of everybody hidden away either working on a counterspell to Demitri's power boost or guarding the spellmakers, Andy and Mai went off looking for Dad and they haven't come back yet, Charlotte, Colossus, and Jon Talbain have all disappeared off to god-knows-where, and Haohmaru's disappeared. Other than that, life sucks."

She grinned. "Don't worry, we're doing..."

She was interrupted by Shao Kahn breaking his bench apart in a murderous rage.

"Forget it. We're in crap."

Shao Kahn strode over to Ryo and Yuri and Yoshi, looking very angry.

"**You are the pitiful fools trying to protect the loudmouth's soul?**"

They all assumed fighting stances. Ryo answered. "Yeah. What's it to you?"

"**I...**" Shao Kahn was obviously forcing the words out. "**...wish to join you.**"

Pins dropped and were heard easily.

* * *

**The Ring**

**"VICTOR VON GERDENHEIM!"** (Darkstalkers 2)

Victor wandered down to ringside.

"Hi, everybody! It's so good to see you again! How are things?"

Guy fell backwards as Demitri fireballed him.

"Gee, you guys aren't too talkative."

Rose jumped away from a Magnetic Beam.

"Is it my breath?"

* * *

**"RANMA SAOTOME!"** (Ranma 1/2 Hard Battle)

Ranma looked nervously into the ring. He was used to one-on-one fights, not these gigantic brawl things.

Oh well. At least nobody seemed to have any water on them.

* * *

**"CYRAX!"** (Mortal Kombat 3)

Cyrax looked over at the Eliminated Seating. His robot army were all standing in front of the gate entrance to the Eliminated section, and he wanted to watch them tear apart Sub-Zero so he could report affirmatively to his Lin Kuei programmers that the mission had been fulfilled.

Suddenly, every robot in the place went completely still and silent. With one exception.

"The Yoshimitsu 2000 also comes with Gauss shielding! Yes, those pesky electromagnetic pulses are a worry of the past! Get the latest in top-notch robot fighters today! Only $1999.95 from T-Tel!"

Up in the booth, Birdman clicked on his com. "Well. It worked."

Brant snorted over the com. "Of course it did."

Robots generally don't get angry. But Cyrax was managing it.

* * *

**"KEN!"** (Street Fighter Alpha)

Ken grinned to the crowd as he strode down to ringside.

"Hey! Who do you love?"

"KEN! KEN! KEN!"

This was _great_. He'd wanted to be recognized all his life as a great fighter... now, he was _somebody_. And he hadn't even done anything yet! Truly, he was destined for greatness. Ken started wondering where he would place the UVR2 Championship Trophy in his dojo... the first, naturally, of a chain of many dojos...

* * *

**"KIM KAPHWAN!"** (King of Fighters '95)

Kim wandered down to ringside. He wondered where Chang had went. Oh well. He was sure Chang was off doing good deeds or something. He always was. After all, hadn't Kim told Chang extensively about the beauty of doing unto others as they do unto you?

He began to whistle.

* * *

**Eliminated Seating**

Ryo managed to regain his jaw movement.

"YOU want to help US?"

The Kahn looked irked. "**My honor has been besmirched. M. Bison has betrayed me. Speaking of which...**" The Kahn looked around, but Adon and Sodom had already fled. "**At any rate. I will NOT be insulted. M. Bison and his compatriots...I believe this 'Demitri' is the ringleader... will be delivered painful deaths. By me.**" The Kahn cracked his knuckles. The sound was equivalent to bones snapping.

Ryo regained his jaw long enough to look at the Kahn. "Okay. You're in. We'll call you when we need you."

Shao Kahn nodded. "**Be sure to make it soon. I wish to destroy my enemies with all due haste.**"

Stryker ran up to Ryo. "Look, I know about this whole Haohmaru thing. You CAN'T trust Shao Kahn. He'll betray us the first chance he gets!"

Ryo grinned. "Well, _duh_."

* * *

**Sub-Basement 32-YT9**

Tristan Mackenzie surveyed the damage.

A couple of watermains were burst, some crushed concrete, a broken steampipe, a bust com unit. No big deal.

Tristan loved his work. When he was working, he didn't have to talk. He just pointed, and people did things. It was heaven.

Tristan pointed at the broken wall. Three mechanics ran over and started mixing concrete at a double rate.

Tristan pointed at the broken mains. Two plumbers (they said they were friends of Mario and Luigi. Tristan didn't quite know what that meant, but they could plumb things, so he didn't care) ran over and started fixing them.

Tristan pointed at the motionless Fulgore-1 unit standing in the centre of the room.

Nobody moved.

He switched on his com. "Where's m-m-my backup, Security?"

* * *

**The Ring**

**"IORI YAGUMI!"** (King of Fighters '95)**  
**

Iori let the Source flow from his hands as he walked towards the ring. The seemingly careless leak crackled off him dangerously.

Meanwhile, up in the booth, Birdman spoke into the mike. "Via the MultiNet, we've got video links with some of the top minds in the Multiverse. From X:Men, we have Professor Charles Xavier. From Forgotten Worlds, we have Xera the shopkeeper and weapons technician. And, with us here in the studio, we have Professor Tym, famed throughout the Multiverse. So, gentlemen and lady... what the hell is that thing between Iori Yagumi's legs?"

"Dunno."

"Couldn't say."

"Damned if I know."

* * *

**"MATRIX!"** (Time Killers)

Matrix was desperately trying to shrug off a feeling of impending doom.

She wasn't succeeding.

and, the final fighter of this section:

* * *

**"UKYO TACHIBANA!"** (Samurai Showdown 2)

Ukyo limped and staggered down to ringside. Blood matted his sleeve. He'd had quite a coughing attack as he was waiting in the pre-entry room.

Pushing his reserves, he jumped into the ring and Split Swallow Slashed Demitri Maximov. The vampire fell, but was up instantly.

"Ah. The refuser. Mizuki found you a tough nut to crack, I see... but I bet I can turn you over."

Ukyo glared at the undead. "(hack) Try it."

* * *

**Sub-Basement TT2-23U**

Charlotte looked around. "Where the hell _are_ we?"

Colossus didn't answer.

She looked around. Nothing. Maybe he was back in the next room? She went back...

...and found Piotr unconscious, skin normal flesh, a strange collar around his neck. She rushed over to him.

Her sense alerted her to an attack just as she reached him, and she rolled forward. Billy Kane's club missed her by inches.

"Damn! Well, I guess we can always get you the second time." Billy jumped to one side. Eiji Kasaragi followed him in.

"I told you it was a good idea to stay behind. Rugal's going to be pleased when we bring her in..." Billy Kane looked very pleased with himself.

Suddenly, their reverie was interrupted.

"GADOUKEN!"

A smallish fireball slammed into Eiji's back, knocking him forward. A Gale Kick finished the job, knocking him down. Dan then jumped to Charlotte's side.

"You all right?"

Charlotte grinned evilly. "Very well. Shall we kill them?"

"Ladies first..."

WHO WILL LIVE?  
WHO WILL DIE?  
BETS ON WHEN SHAO KAHN BETRAYS THE GOOD GUYS?

* * *

_Original Authors_

Chris "Birdman" Bird  
Brant Rogers  
Scott Johnson  
Austin Loomis


	21. Section 10 - Results

**Section Ten - Results**

**The Ring**

Jeffry smiled as he powerbombed Robert Garcia to the mat. It was the third time now. The repeated powerbombings had driven the Fighting King to the point of insensibility.

Oddly enough, his quarry was mumbling something subaudible. "Geez, Yuri... y'could've warned me your father would get so violent when he caught us..."

Jeffry considered this. As far as he knew, "Yuri" was the girl out in the Eliminated seating. Best to reunite them! Jeffry smiled as he reflected magnificently on his brilliant thought which would no doubt aid a young couple in their amorousness. He then lifted the Kyokogenryu stylist over his head and heaved.

Robert landed in the river near Shun's home in VF2. He was promptly fished out by concerned looking fishermen.

Meanwhile, the fight between Magneto and Jago/Doom continued. Doom's timing, as computer-perfect as always, was flawless. Flying kicks, uppercuts, and Sitsu-Kens were used with machinelike precision. The smallsword on the ninja's back was used with equal facility, slicing and cutting with the strange green aura that somehow made it hurt more.

Of course, all this meant that Jago/Doom was barely holding his own against Magneto. The mutant was all but overwhelming the Instinctual Killing Marvel Super Hero (and anyone else who came into range).

"DOOM! You should have realized what would happen! Surely you did not think you would be able to best me in this inferior body...you can barely manage it in your own, on your finest day. I will end you now, and you will realize your failure UGH!"

The last was courtesy of Guy, who had Rising Kicked Magneto. As the mutant fell out of Guy's arc, he was met by a Dragon Kick from Kim Dragon. A Soul Throw from Rose completed the aerial jugglefest, and a buttdrop from Jeffry capped off the cycle.

Guy and Rose ran over to talk to Jago/Doom. "What happened to you, Jago?" Rose asked. "You don't seem quite yourself..."

"I am not 'Jago'. I am Victor Von Doom of Latveria!"

"Mmmmm-hmmmmm." Guy nodded. "And you want to kill Johnny Storm, right?"

"Reed Richards, fool!"

Rose poked Guy. "Don't bait him. He's not insane. His soul signature hardly matches that of the body. He really *is* Doom...but how did Doom get in Jago's body..?"

"A process I will not divulge. This body was under control of the fiend known as Number 27, Hopefully, if we recover the original soul and spirit, we can rectify the matter. However, none of this is important right now...we must discuss the matter of Haohmaru. I recognize you both as being cognizant of the dangers involved..."

"DIE! DIE DIE DIE!" Mizuki crashed into their conversation, waving her stick madly as her Demon Dog, Dog, leapt on top of Kim Dragon, who had been heading over to get the scoop on the newcomer. Guy and Rose were knocked down quickly, but Jago/Doom seemed unimpressed.

"Eloquence is always the first victim of fanaticism..." muttered Doom as he slammed into Mizuki with a flying kick, which leapt into a 12-hit combo ending in a Sword Uppercut. Mizuki went flying over the ropes. She landed in Hexen, where she lasted precisely 12.5 seconds before being messily killed. (Her Demon Dog, Dog, lasted the full fifteen minutes when it jumped in after her, leaving behind a very pained Kim Dragon in the ring and a large amount of corpses in Hexen.)

Kim staggered over to the group. "Yeeee... can't take much more of this..."

Rose nodded. "Maybe it's time we transferred you out of the ring... you'll be more help in there... you're too tired to help us keep Magneto or Demitri busy."

Kim Dragon didn't have time to say "Good idea", as a Shockwave from Magneto piled into the lot of them, knocking Guy unconscious and thoroughly stunning Rose and Jago. Kim Dragon got the worst of it, however: his chin made contact with Guy's wildly flying elbow, and he was tossed, (nay, _launched_) out of the ring. He landed in Dragon: The Bruce Lee story.

"Bruce" looked at him. "But you were just here."

"Huh?" Kim looked around groggily. "I'm hall'cinating. Great."

Meanwhile, Ryofu was poking Guy in the side with his naginata. "Are you dead? If not, then I wanna kill you."

Guy, rudely awoken by the pointy object digging into his chest, replied with a Rising Spin Kick. Ryofu was ejected from the ring. He landed in Smurf Village.

"PAPA SMUUUUUURF! My pants are caught on this one's spear!"

* * *

**Sub-Basement 32-AY7**

Billy Kane grimaced as Charlotte's epee skewered his side.

He simply didn't understand this. Charlotte wasn't fresh. He'd watched her and Colossus fight for a while with those others, and they'd tired them some, he was sure. Then, somehow Colossus had been rendered powerless and knocked out. So, he and Eiji had attacked, as per Rugal's orders to knock out Haohmaru's defenders...and the whole Multiverse knew that Charlotte was Number One on the list.

Of course, that shmuck, Dan, had stuck his head into the fight, and fought respectably for a bit. But honestly, who was he kidding? Eiji had managed to set him up nicely with that gigantic fireball wave he had (one of these days, Billy noted, he would *have* to figure out the Japanese pronunciation) which let Billy slam Dan upside the head with his staff, and poom, no Dan to worry about.

Which made Charlotte all the more surprising. She was simply ignoring wounds. He'd bashed her left side at least five times, and she *must* be bruising...he certainly hadn't felt armor... but if that side hurt, it wasn't showing at all.

Eiji was unconscious in one corner. That was probably a result of the Power Gradiation Charlotte had slammed him with, Billy guessed. Well, he hadn't moved after she hit with it.

Billy considered that he was getting his ass kicked. Enough of this...

...and he ran like hell.

Charlotte, no longer in the middle of a fight, paused to take a breath. Suddenly, she realized how much pain she was in, and sat down hard.

"Charlotte! Thank god we found you!"

Charlotte turned (not much, it hurt too much) to look. It was Andy Bogard and Mai Shiranui. They looked concerned.

"Jeez! Are you all right?" Andy ran to her side. "You look like you had your ass thrashed."

Charlotte grimaced. "A most appropriate colloquism." She looked up at the two. "We have to rescue Haohmaru."

Mai shook her head. "Nope. We have to get you to safety. You're too hurt to be any good, and we're not going to leave you here." As if for the first time, she noticed Dan on the floor. "Oh, _there_ he is. We'll bring him along too... means we'll have to come back for him, I guess."

Andy shrugged. "He's not as important as Charlotte is." Mai nodded in response.

Charlotte looked at them, confusion evident on her face. "I do not understand... we must save him, too. And Colossus."

Andy smiled. "We already got Colossus. Don't worry." He bent down and lifted Charlotte up under one shoulder. Mai got underneath the other shoulder. Supporting Charlotte between them, they moved towards the doorway.

Charlotte managed to turn her head to face Mai. She certainly admired the girl's optimism. The smile on her face, the gleam in her eyes...

...the bite marks in her neck?

"Sacre bleu! Andy!" Ignoring the pain, she turned to face Andy... and saw the same marks on his neck. Her eyes widened. "You've been enslaved!"

Andy shrugged. "We prefer to think of it as voluntary submission." He suddenly let go of Charlotte, as did Mai. The Frenchwoman fell with a thud.

Charlotte staggered to her feet and clutched her epee from her scabbard. "I will give a good accounting of myself, lapdogs!"

A new voice could be heard. "Mmmmmmm. I don't doubt..."

And Charlotte faded into a intensely pleasurable unconsciousness. The last thing she heard was Mai's voice.

"Don't worry. It's really better this way."

* * *

**The Ring**

Iori nodded. "You certainly offer a better proposition than Rugal did. My own node, should I serve you properly..." His eyes glinted. A whole node, to be given to the Source, cleansed by the fire...

Demitri Maximov nodded. "Excellent. Your companions...?"

"Will do whatever I tell them if they aren't stupid."

A smile ghosted across Demitri Maximov's lips. "Very good. You have the appropriate attitude towards underlings. You may prove to be a good lieutenant...Morrigan is certainly unworthy of my trust."

"Why do you tolerate her presence?"

"She serves as an auxiliary arm for now. I believe when I garner the power of the Oversoul..."

"The what?"

Demitri cursed inwardly but gave no sign of it. "Nothing really. A pretty term for Haohmaru, nothing more. Anyway, when I have that power...I shall eradicate any vestige of free will she has. It is safer that way, is it not?"

"So, what are my orders?"

"Find a way to get out of the ring without looking obvious about it. I will join you shortly, after I enslave one or two of the would-be Haohmaru-protectors. I need more slaves."

Iori grinned. "Don't we all?" He then walked away.

Demitri nodded in satisfaction. Excellent, he thought. Finally, a competent underling. Although I would like to know what that rope between his legs is for...

Meanwhile, Ken was looking irritated with Ryu. "Okay, Ryu, what's the deal? I don't get it!"

Ryu looked inscrutable. "What are you talking about?"

"Chun Li! We agreed that I had dibs, okay?"

Ryu refrained from stating that _Ken_ had agreed on "dibs" and merely defended himself. "I haven't done anything, Ken. I have meditated in my quarters and fought, nothing else."

"Oh, yeah, right! I mean, you know, it's really low to go behind your best pal's back and sabotage your chances! I mean, all she does is talk about **you**! Nothing else! Just 'Oh, wasn't that punch just _incredible_?' or 'My god, can he summon fireballs!' You _can't_ expect me to believe that you haven't been down there and made yourself available to her!"

Ryu shrugged. "I beg to point out that she could have just been admiring my techniques!"

"Oh, yeah? She seemed awfully appreciative of the 'technique' between your legs!"

Ryu blinked, surprised. "I... um... but..."

"But nothing! Yeah, right, you keep your agreements! Ryu, my **BUDDY**!" With that, Ken Dragon Punched his costudent over the "ropes".

Ryu landed in Gals Panic.

Noting the landscape, he shrugged. "The pleasures of the flesh simply make us crazed... as my friend Ken so aptly demonstrates... ah well. It's not his fault. He never was able to control his urges." With that, Ryu sat down crosslegged and began to meditate.

* * *

**Room 111, RumbleDome Hotel**

Chun Li was in shock. Ryu had been eliminated, and by KEN of all people! They had seemed to be having an argument of some sort.

Chun Li briefly wondered if peeking at Ryu in the shower had somehow affected his fighting, then immediately discarded the notion. He **hadn't** seen her when he was towelling off his face...

**The Ring**

A second Magnetic Beam slammed Victor to the ground.

"Proud fools! Your patchwork man cannot stop the Master of Magnetism! I, and I alone, shall dominate all that there is!" With that, Magneto launched another Shockwave, which decimated the ring and slammed Victor out of it. The giant monster landed in Virtua Cop 2, on top of some guy who was tossing barrels at cops.  
"Hey! Are you Donkey Kong?" asked Victor. The madman, unconscious, did not reply.

Cyrax, meanwhile, was smoking in rage at Sub-Zero (sitting in the Eliminated section). So absorbed was he that he did not notice Ken rolling towards him.

"SHORYUKEN!"

Cyrax landed in Daytona USA and was promptly smashed into a million little pieces by an unrushing race car.

Demitri Maximov had overpowered Rose, utterly. The sorceress was wobbling after a heavy-duty Demon Cradle.

Demitri smiled. "A mage. How thoughtful. You will make an excellent slave, girl." He extended his fangs.

Guy, across the ring, saw Demitri's mouth open. "NOOOOO!" he yelled. Breaking into a run, he zoomed across the ring, ending in a flying kick. The Bushin Run had served him faithfully, again. Demitri, thus surprised, was a fine target for a series of punches and kicks which sent him flying out of the ring.

He didn't show up anywhere.

Up in the booth: "BRANT!"

"I know, I know. I sent an agent to turn on the lights in Golden Axe II but he hasn't found the switch yet, I guess." Brant fibbed.

* * *

**Room 245, RumbleDome Hotel**

Demitri appeared in a sudden flash.

Most of the room bowed respectfully. (Lord Raptor didn't, and Takuma, Haohmaru, Genjuro, and Jon Talbain couldn't.)

"Enough." He looked at Haohmaru. The ronin was spread-eagled, chained to floor and ceiling, suspended above the carpet. His gi was heavily torn. Bruises purpled across his face and chest.

Genjuro, on the opposite side of the room, was in no better shape. His sword was bound to his hands, by the blade, and the sharpness scratched at his wrists. Blood flowed at a trickle.

Takuma hung from the meathook, still. Jon Talbain was still conscious in his cage. The vampire strode over to the werewolf.

"So, Jon, old friend. Good to see you will witness my final triumph."

Jon spat. "Blow it out your ass, old boy. I promise you, I'll rip your heart out with my teeth and enjoy it."

"No need to be uncivil. After all, I **am** going to explain my master plan to you."

"That's rather cliched."

"Hardly." Demitri turned to Haohmaru. "It's far too late for you to do anything about it." He looked back at Jon. "You see, I've known about the Oversoul Effect for quite some time."

Jon looked confused.

Demitri smiled. "You see, when a new node, like this Rumble node, is created, it garners an excess of power. That power is increased a millionfold when the node is connected to the rest of the Multiverse. It flows, you see, through conduits. Such as tournament winners."

"So?"

"So? So I've witnessed it before. During the third Dream Tournament, I decided it would be wise to examine tapes of my possible opponents. I'm surprised no one else noticed. In Dream Tournament Two, the buildup is clearly visible."

"Huh?"

"The Oversoul Effect. Much like what happened to our friend, Haohmaru. You see, when a tournament winner is a conduit, the power flows through him for about one year. It happened to Chun Li during Dream Tournament 2, and it happens to Haohmaru now. It doesn't work for later tournament winners, though. Only the first. The excess energy is expelled after the second tourney. I noted this when I examined Ryu's soul pattern at Dream Tourney Three."

"But why didn't Chun Li get kidnapped by the forces of evil then, huh?"

Demitri shrugged. "Not many attended. Geese Howard and Mr. Big were both flatly unknowledgeable of the magical affair. M. Bison isn't that aware. Death, being an elemental force, I can only presume to be uninterested in such things. Geegus is an alien, and hardly magical. That leaves Shang Tsung, who has proven to be...sloppy at times. The fact that he was attempting to mind-control Reptile as well possibly had something to do with it. Quite frankly, Chun Li escaped because nobody knew."

"So how did everyone find out this time?"

Demitri smiled. "I let them. A few tipoffs here and there. A few unlabeled communications. A mild power funneling. Subtlety was required, after all."

"And you got someone to hire you..."

"Yes. Pyron was an excellent choice, don't you think?" Demitri looked upon the conqueror mockingly. "Powerful, yet totally oblivious to the obvious-like the fact that I was planning to betray him. I knew I would need Mizuki sooner or later, for her connection to the Dark Guy. M. Bison was simply luck."

"And Jubei?" Jon motioned to the samurai, barely avoiding the silver bars.

"I assumed there would be _some_ opposition. That was the mistake of all the others. They all assumed no one would know. I _knew_ you were above me, Jon, and I knew you would oppose me. I'm slightly surprised you didn't hear me repeating key sentences in a slightly loud tone..."

Jon smiled. "You're a sneaky bastard, I'll give you that."

Demitri shrugged. "Afterwards, I went upstairs in bat form, and hovered overhead the tiling as I followed Bishamon's flame. I heard everything that mysterious figure had to say."

"Who was it?"

"I don't know, which bothers me. I assume it was Kano. I couldn't get close to him, because of an air duct in my path."

"You've thought of everything, haven't you?"

"Oh my yes." Demitri smiled again. "Now, all I need is the blood of one who loves Haohmaru. It is a pity Oshizu could not attend. Charlotte will have to suffice. However, Morrigan has been ordered to bring the fencer in. I doubt that she will disappoint."

The vampire turned. "I know that the young Sakazaki lad is doing his able best to stop me. Let him try. I love to watch futility in action. I'm already powerful. In thirty minutes, I will be a god... and my first action will be to take total control of every denizen of the Darkstalkers node." He looked at Jon. "But, I think I'll let you keep your free will, Jon. Just so you can know that you failed, for the rest of eternity. I owe you that much..."

* * *

**The Ring**

"But it cannot be!" said Jeffry. "Wolf is my friend! We chase women together! He would not do this bad thing, for he is not a bad man!"

Rose sighed and began again for what seemed like the fifteenth time (although it was actually just the sixth). "He doesn't have free will! He's being controlled!"

Jeffry's brows knotted. Finally, his eyes widened. "Ah! I understand. What you are saying is that Wolf is not his own self, as if he has been drinking too much?"

Rose nodded emphatically. "Close enough."

Jeffry beamed. "Good!" He whispered in a conspiratorial tone. "I am sometimes slow at getting these things." (Rose refrained from rubbing her temples.) In his normal tone: "Ah, then. I will help you as best I can!"

Rose smiled weakly. "Oh, _good_."

They were then interrupted by a loud "YATTAYATTAYATTAYATTAYATTA!" Iori Yagami was driven back between them. The driving force, of course, was Kim Kaphwan's feet. As Iori was driven back to the ropes, Kim ducked and then Flash Kicked upwards. Iori fell up, away, and over.

He didn't land anywhere.

"BRANT!"

"Sorry! Golden Axe II again! I seem to have destroyed the attraction, though. We shouldn't get any more there. Must be a fluke." Brant lied through his teeth. He simply could not figure out the problem. He had tracked down the disappearances to somewhere in the RumbleDome Hotel. Unfortunately, that left 110 floors full of rooms.

Down in the ring, Rose was calmly Scarf Snapping a very unsurprised-looking Matrix out of the ring. Matrix reflected briefly before she fell into a car next to a huge tower in the Killer Instinct node. Perhaps it was time the Time Killers gave up. Perhaps it was time to pack it in. Perhaps it was *THUDCLANGSPLAT*.

* * *

**Room 245, RumbleDome Hotel**

Iori Yagami appeared in a flash of light.

"I take it this was your doing?" smiled Iori calmly.

Demitri bowed. "Of course. I need you here, not in some silly node for fifteen minutes."

"So, what can I do?"

"Hmmmmm." Demitri surveyed the prisoners. "You can put these shackles on Haohmaru, for a start."

Iori took the proffered steel cuffs and chains. "Very well, but..."

Suddenly the door opened. All present assumed a combat stance. They then relaxed as they saw Morrigan troop through, with Cyclops, Psylocke, Colossus, Billy Kane, Eiji Kisaragi, Wolf, Janne, and Charlotte in tow. Colossus carried Dan on his shoulder.

Demitri smiled. "Quite an entourage." He gestured around at his own, with particular flamboyance to the World Heroes gestured near Mizuki.  
All now sported bite marks. "I thought it prudent to enslave these as well."

Morrigan grinned. Her grin faded as she saw Iori. "Oh. Um. Sorry, but I enslaved your pals here. I didn't want them running out on us..."

Iori shrugged. "Like I give a damn what happens to those losers?"

Demitri scanned the entourage. "Three questions. Where are the other two? Should they not be with you?"

"I sent Andy and Mai out to look for more victims to bring back. We can never have too many."

"Agreed. Secondly, do you have my collar?"

She tossed him the Genoshan power neutralizing device. "Where did you get this, and how did you know that I'd need it?"

Demitri smirked. "Where I got it is rather elementary. Why I knew? When I saw the X-Men in attendance, I knew we'd need it for sure. I brought it along, expecting they would be in full competition after their limited guest appearance last year. And when you had Psylocke and Cyclops, I became certain we would need it... the X-Men are notorious for going back after their own."

"But still, why would we need it? I can still bite them."

Demitri walked up to Colossus and tapped the giant on the shoulder. A resounding _ping_ was heard. "Not through that. We'll also need one for Wolverine."

"Whatever for?"

"Because his healing factor will presumably destroy our influence within minutes. We **will** need it to control him."

Jon Talbain grimaced. "Yeah, the smartypants thinks he can control everything."

Demitri looked at Talbain in surprise. "You're far more perceptive than I thought."

Morrigan interrupted. "What's the third question?"

"Is Charlotte your slave?"

Morrigan lifted the Frenchwoman's hair away, to reveal bite marks.

Demitri's lip curled upwards. "Excellent."

**The Ring**

Ranma Saotome ducked underneath a Tiger Shot from Sagat. The Alpha Fighter jumped in for the kill.

As Ranma struck Sagat with a thousand blows of the Tenshin Amagiken, fists flying rapidly, Sagat mused dazedly never to jump again unless absolutely necessary. He drifted upwards and over as punches continued to land, eventually landing in Return of the Jedi.

He looked around. Everyone seemed quite panicked for some reason.

**BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!**

Birdman winced. "Well, folks, being in the middle of an exploding Death Star is certainly a _spectacular_ way to go..."

Meanwhile, Ukyo Tachibana was muttering hoarsely to Rose and Jago/Doom. "*kaph* What do you want me *hakk* to do?"

Jago/Doom looked noble. "I require an elimination. I must go forth and destroy those who would partake of souls." Jago/Doom glossed over the fact that he also looked forward to beating in the heads of assorted enslaved X-Men. (A perk is a perk, after all.)

Rose nodded. "Sounds good. I can just..." She didn't finish. Ukyo whipped out his impossibly long sword (which in NO way was a phallic symbol, not at all, uh-uh) and tossed an apple.

A moment later, he began slashing. Rose and Jago/Doom were both rocketed upwards and over, to spend their time fending off evil Pumpkins in the classic "Smashing Punpkins Into Small Piles of Putrid Debris".

Ukyo nodded. "Guess it *hukk* worked."

* * *

_Original Authors_

Chris "Birdman" Bird  
Brant Rogers  
Scott Johnson  
Austin Loomis


	22. Section 11

**Section Eleven**

**The Ring**

**"HSIEN-KO!"** (Darkstalkers 2)

Happy bouncy Shampoo music played loudly throughout the arena as Hsien-Ko skipped down to ringside.

She was, of course, abominably cute.

* * *

**"GEN-AN SHIRANUI!"** (Samurai Showdown 2)

Gen-An clutched convulsively at his pocket. In it was the two thick bags of gold Rugal had given him to fight for him. Of course, Gen-An had taken the money and calmly then agreed to work for Demitri, for _four _bags of gold. Invested wisely, the money would provide many victims/lunches for his children, and perhaps even his grandchildren.

Gen-An was scum, but he was cautious scum.

* * *

**"M. BISON!"** (Street Fighter Alpha)

Intense music pounded through the RumbleDome. Guitars pounded.

o/~ So spell it out in blood: BASTARD IS AS BASTARD DOES!  
And nothing gets done, BASTARD IS AS BASTARD DOES!  
The everlasting harm, destructive of the norm;  
so spell it out in blood: BASTARD IS AS BASTARD DOES! o/~

Birdman turned to Brant. "_He_ chose Monster Voodoo Machine?"

Brant looked at him. "Uh, Ken came up and said Bison requested a music change. Who was I to argue?"

Both men smiled.

* * *

**Room 245, RumbleDome Hotel**

Demitri turned from the TV set. "Excellent. Bison conveys my offer to Magneto, and can more certainly then not defend himself should the need arise. If Magneto accepts, my victory is inevitable. If not, it's just a little less inevitable, but still not a problem."

Jon spoke up. "Since when does the word "inevitable" have qualifers attached?"

Demitri ignored him. He turned to Charlotte, whom he had bitten freshly to re-enslave her to his will instead of Morrigan's.

"Charlotte?"

"Yes, master?"

"Do you love Haohmaru?"

"Yes, master." The voice was reluctant.

"Why?"

She looked wistful. "He's everything I've ever wanted. He's strong, and brave, and honorable, and loving...but he doesn't love me."

"That's right. He doesn't love you. Why love someone who doesn't love you back?"

"You can't control love, master."

He snorted. "Of course you can. It's easy."

She shrugged. "If you say so."

He looked deep into her eyes. "Haohmaru will never love you as I love you. You understand this?"

She smiled faintly. "Yes, master."

"Do you love me?"

She nodded emphatically. "Yes, master!"

"Do you love Haohmaru? Or is it a crush?"

"I..."

"Wait. Let me put it this way. Do you love Haohmaru for what he has done for you, or for what you think he does?"

"I..."

"He's never done ANYTHING for you, except maybe help you up off your feet when he beat you down. He dishonored you! He all but spat on your trust! He *knew* you were in love with him, but didn't even tell you he didn't love you until now...when it's far too late. Is that the work of an honorable man? A brave man? A strong man?"

"I... I... I don't know."

"Yes, you do. Search within yourself." Demitri smiled. He had telepathically implanted the seed when he fed upon her. Prolonged thought was all that was needed.

"AHHHHHHH!" Charlotte rose up, screaming angrily. Wolf and Heihachi ran to restrain her.

Demitri rose so that his eyes would once again meet hers. "So, how do you feel about Haohmaru now?"

"I hate him! He ruined my life! He made me look like a fool in front of all that I know! I am nothing! I am alone! I..."

Demitri caught her mouth with his hand and stopped her from talking. "You are not alone, Charlotte. I will always be here for you, for I love you."

Charlotte's eyes tightened. Then she began to cry.

Demitri pulled her in tight and held her, gently patting her back. "There, there. Everything will be all right, I promise you. I will make it all right."

He smiled. Another cog fell into place.

* * *

**The Ring**

**"FELICIA!"** (Darkstalkers 2)

The catwoman rolled down to ringside.

Upon entering, she noted that Demitri had left rather early. Too bad. She'd been planning to ask him where he got the powerup.

* * *

**"JAX!"** (Mortal Kombat 3)

The last of the Earth Warriors, save Kung Lao, strode down to ringside.

Birdman turned to Professor Tym. "So, Professor, why exactly do you think MK3 has been having such a rough go of it?"

"Cheesy spandex."

"Huh?"

"Cheesy spandex. The Tym Cheesy Spandex Equation clearly states that victories will equal damage potential divided by the square yardage of cheesy spandex worn by the fighter."

Birdman was speechless.

* * *

**"SIE KENSOU!"** (King of Fighters '95)

Sie looked around. Nobody was there! Rose was gone, and Jago was gone, and...no, wait, Guy was still there.

Sie sighed in relief. Good thing. He wasn't a leader.

* * *

**"SPINAL!"** (Killer Instinct)

"No BONES about it! I'm the DECALCIFYING fighter! Yep! Hey!" He saw Annie Hamilton in the front row. "Hey, baby, MARROW me! Hahahahahaha!"

Suddenly, two large men came trooping towards him. "Excuse me,  
sir. Do you have a license to use those puns?" spoke the first one.

Spinal blanched. "Um, it's in my room in the hotel." He gestured at himself. "No pockets, you know?"

The right one looked at him. "Well, until you get it on your person, we're going to have to ask you to refrain from using them."

Everyone cheered.

* * *

**"DEATH!"** (Time Killers)

Death once again bucked tradition and teleported directly into the ring, planting his scythe in Ukyo's back as he did so.

* * *

**"WOLVERINE!"** (X-Men: Children of the Atom)

"CHEAP! CHEAP! CHEAP! CHEAP! CHEAP!"

Wolverine looked offended. "Hey! It's not my fault I'm the best there is, the best there was, and the best there ever will be!"

Bret Hart, sitting two rows away, yelled. "HEY! **I'm** the best there is, the best there was, and the best there ever will be!"

Logan muttered to himself. "Like I need this crapola, what with all the troubles I'm having with Landau, Luckman and Lake. 'Least Jubilation is behaving herself."

* * *

**Eliminated Seating**

Rose and Jago walked into the Eliminated Seating, along with Robert Garcia. Yuri Sakazaki instantly ran over to hug Robert.

Ryo Sakazaki, however, was less placid. "Where the hell have you been? We need you!" He looked at Rose. "Come on! We need you downstairs!"

"The Yoshimitsu 2000 is ever-ready to guard caravans of all types, thanks to the handy rechargable fusion battery!"

Ryo looked confused again. "You volunteering?"

"Well, golllllllleeeeee, Sarge, I guess I am! Sha-ZAM!"

Ryo winced. "Don't talk like that."

Yoshimitsu looked insulted.

Ryo looked around. "Okay. Yoshimitsu, you and I will stay here in case anyone else checks in for about another ten minutes. Rose, you go down to the circle. Robert and Jago and Yuri can play bodyguard..."

Jago/Doom interrupted. "Don't be an idiot, boy! I am trained in Gypsy magics! Without a doubt, I can aid in the casting!"

Ryo looked at Jago/Doom silently for a few moments. He then saw Rose nodding quietly and muttered something to himself. "All right. Robert, Yuri, you scout ahead. Rose, Jago, go directly there. Yuri will give you the directions."

As the four took off, Ryo massaged his temples. "Agggggh. I think I'm getting a migraine."

Shao Kahn strode over. "**Is there something you wish me to know, pathetic mortal?**"

Ryo looked directly into the nearly-non-existent eyes of the Emperor of Outworld. "Nope. Don't worry, we'll tell you when the time is right."

Shao Kahn stalked off.

Ryo inhaled deeply. "I _hate_ that."

* * *

**The Ring**

**"PAI CHAN!"** (Virtua Fighter 2)

Pai carefully avoided looking at Lau on the way down.

* * *

**"SHANG TSUNG!"** (Mortal Kombat 3)

_**THERE HAS BEEN A CHANGE OF PLANS.**_ Shao Kahn's voice rumbled through Shang Tsung's brain. _**DO NOT ATTACK THE DEFENDERS OF HAOHMARU UNTIL I TELL YOU TO DO SO.**_

_But master..._

_**SHUT UP.**_

* * *

**"HANZOU!"** (World Heroes Perfect)

**Room 245, RumbleDome Hotel**

Even through his vampirically-induced haze, Fuuma still focused on Hanzou.

"I hate him. I hate him? I hate him. I think I hate him. Yes, I really think I hate him." He turned to Demitri. "Master?"

Demitri, relaxing after his triumph over Charlotte, turned. "Yes, my servant?"

"Do I hate him?" Fuuma pointed at the screen.

Demitri didn't even pause. "Of course you do."

* * *

**The Ring**

**"TERRY BOGARD!"** (King of Fighters '95)

Terry couldn't _believe_ his luck. Another late draw! Two years running! Of course, this time he was going to win it all. That gigantic freaking trophy would make a great conversation piece, and it would _definitely_ impress Blue Mary.

However, two someones who had not been present at last year's Rumble made a fatal mistake. Billy and Jimmy Lee, from Double Dragon.

"HEY! WHERE'S OUR PIZZA?!" they yelled in unison. Then they broke up into racuous laughter.

Terry considered whipping out another explosive pizza, then remembered he didn't have one handy. He settled for powering up and then slamming the pair of them with a Power Geyser.

The Lee brothers were launched into the field. They landed in Burger Time, and were smothered to death by malevolent gigantic hot dogs.

* * *

**Sub-Basement BR-25C**

Robert and Yuri were scouting ahead. They'd given Jago/Doom and Rose the directions, then had ran ahead, being more familiar with the route.

"Are you sure this is the right way, Yuri? I mean, I thought we took a left here."

"Look, Robert, Ryo drilled me for fifteen minutes on the instructions Rasputin sent him mentally. Trust me. We take a right."

"Okay! Okay! No need to get touchy!"

"Touchy? Who's touchy?"

"Well, I'm not saying it's a bad thing..."

"No, you're just implying it!"

"Okay! You're touchy, and sometimes it irritates me! HAPPY?"

The argument was broken off by a third party.

"Yuri! Robert! What are you doing down here?"

Mai Shiranui and Andy Bogard were walking towards them.

"Hey, guys. You just missed Robert trying to get us lost."

Mai nodded, as did Andy. They continued to walk up to the Kyokogenryu artists.

"Sounds bad. Where you headed?"

"Down to the mage circle. We've got Rose, so we're taking her down to finish off our enchantment."

Mai nodded. "Really." She scratched at her neck idly. "Well, great stuff. Where are they again? TK2-27?"

Yuri smiled. "No, THX-0001."

"Oh, _yeah_. Silly me. Well, we're busy tracking down some Rugal goons. Wanna come?"

Robert answered with a Haohshohkohken. The wave of force collided into the Garou and his lady. Mai went flying, as did Andy.

Yuri stared in shock. "What did you do that for?"

"They've been taken over by Morrigan or Demitri! I saw the bite marks on Mai's neck!"

Mai got up. "That's silly! I **wasn't** bitten. Neither was Andy. Quite frankly, I think you owe us an apology!"

Yuri nodded. "Right!" She kept her eyes on Mai's neck, waiting for the Fighting King to step beneath the overhead lamp. "Robert, apologize to Mai."

Mai stepped forward again, fingering her fan. Andy came in close behind her.

Yuri suddenly saw the bite marks.

"Robert, apologize to her right now. I want an apology, just like the time you apologized to Ryo for hitting on me."

Robert looked at her suddenly. A smile flickered across his face. He didn't betray his tone, however. "Oh, Yuri! Come on. Don't make me do **that**!"

"Do it, Robert!"

Mai echoed her. "Yeah, Robert! Do it!"

"But..."

Yuri's voice was like steel. "NO. BUTS."

Robert's shoulder's slumped. "Okay."

And he launched a Ryuken flat in Mai's face.

WHO WILL LIVE?  
WHO WILL DIE?  
IS DEMITRI REVEALING THE MASTER PLAN TOO EARLY?

* * *

_Original Authors_

Chris "Birdman" Bird  
Brant Rogers  
Scott Johnson  
Austin Loomis


	23. Section 11 - Results

**Section Eleven - Results**

**The Ring**

"HAHAHAHAHA! Da BONE strikes again!" Spinal laughed maniacally. He may have had to stop punning, but he still had stupid innuendoes to fall back on!

Kim Kaphwan looked at him blankly. "I don't quite get it."

Spinal looked at Kim curiously. "You're kidding, right?" A pause. "No, you aren't. Damn. Okay, look..." He draped one arm around Kim's shoulder's and began whispering into his ear.

Meanwhile, Hanzou was trying everything in his arsenal against Ukyo Tachibana... which was to say not very much. His projectiles were being countered, his uppercut was blocked. Launching himself into the air, Hanzou started flying at Ukyo with blades extended, knowing full well that it wouldn't work but refusing to give up.

The Split Swallow Slash from Ukyo _forced_ him to give up. Hanzou landed on an odd-shaped asteroid. Suddenly a strange ship swooped down...

"Man. Brant, you didn't tell me we had a warp to Gradius."

Over in another corner, Death and Jeffry were amiably sharing a box of cookies.

MMMMMMM. THESE **ARE** GOOD... said Death. HOW DO THEY GET THE LITTLE BITS OF CHOCOLATE IN?

Jeffry screwed up his brow, deep in thought. Finally: "I thought they just put them in when they baked them."

BUT WOULDN'T THE CHOCOLATE MELT? I MEAN, IF IT'S GOING IN AN OVEN...

Jeffry said nothing. Death suddenly realized he had overtaxed the supremely limited deductive abilities of the massive fighter. NEVER MIND. (Jeffry relaxed noticeably.) COME ON. I THINK WE'RE SUPPOSED TO FIGHT. THE CROWD ISN'T BOOING, IS IT?

Jeffry looked out. "I don't think they are."

ALL RIGHT, THEN. With that, Death slashed at Jeffry, who staggered and fell. Jeffry rose with a low spinkick, knocking Death off its feet; then, as the elemental force anthropomorphized into human form struggled up, Jeff grabbed and heaved.

Death was suddenly treated to a fine view of the dimensional field, close up. He landed in Ghosts N' Goblins. A skeletal horse wandered up to him and whinnied fire.

Death was unimpressed. OH. ONE OF THOSE. I DON'T LIKE THEM MUCH. THEY HAVE THIS TENDENCY TO SET FIRE TO THEIR OWN BEDDING AND THEN STAND IN THE MIDDLE OF IT LOOKING EMBARRASSED.

Meanwhile, up in the ring...

"Get it? Get it?" Spinal was slightly perturbed. _Nobody_ took this long to get his jokes. Even _Jeffry_ had gotten them rather quickly. (For Jeffry, anyway.)

However, Kim Kaphwan was a pure-souled sort: kind, gracious, and completely lacking a dirty mind.

"Could you repeat that second part, please?"

* * *

**Room 245, RumbleDome Hotel**

Demitri looked around. "Excellent. Everything is in place. We go, now."

Morrigan was confused. "Where are we going?"

Demitri smiled. "**My** room. Number 1891."

"But why?"

"It's less local than the rest of the hotel... specifically why I requested a room on the top floor. They couldn't get me the penthouse, more's the pity, but it will do... it should prove quite defensible."

"So we're all going?"

Demitri looked around. "No, not hardly. I want to leave some fighters behind as a decoy force... it should keep the do-gooders busy for the nonce. Now, who to choose...?" Demitri was interrupted by the phone.

"What is that infernal thing ringing for?" He looked around. All were speechless. He shoved Wolf at it. "Don't just stand there! Answer it!"

Wolf picked up the phone as if it were made of dynamite. "Hello?"

A pause. "Okay."

He held the phone out to Demitri. "It's for you."

"**Obviously**. Who is it?"

"It's Rugal. He wants to cut a deal."

* * *

**Room 528, RumbleDome Hotel**

Number 27 looked inquiringly at Rugal as the master of Blacknoah clicked the cellphone off. "Well?"

"Something of a deal. In return for safeguarding his headquarters, room 245, while he prepares the ritual, we get our lives and a sizable power base in Demitri's internodal empire."

Number 27 blinked. "That's it? We couldn't manage anything else?"

Rugal looked at him scornfully. "He holds all the cards. He has superior manpower, immense personal power, and he has Haohmaru bound like a turkey. We aren't exactly bringing much to the table."

27 grimaced. "We're in trouble."

Rugal smiled. "Hardly. We can uproot him once he is triumphant." His metal hand clenched. "And then we will rule supreme, by pain and torture. Ah, 27, it _will_ be grand..." Rugal strode off, smiling.

Number 27 grimaced. "Grand". Hardly. It was time to leave. If there was anything left of this node after Demitri's ascension, he could come back and pick up the pieces, and negotiate a better deal than what that fool Rugal had managed.

Number 27 went for his briefcase. Assuring himself that all the vials were present, he clicked it shut. Walking over to the port where Jack-2 monitored RumbleDome communications, he pressed one button. Jack-2 barely had time to blink before his electronic link was shorted, and the cyborg's safeties only just had a chance to kick in.

Finally, the CEO of UltraTech slid open a panel on his left wrist. A small LED display flashed to life in front of him. Clicking a small sequence, he tapped the panel shut. One second later, Number 27 disappeared in a flash of green light rays.

Rugal ran into the room. "What happened?"

Jack-2 staggered to his feet. "Numbah 27, sir. He juhst disahppeahred."

Rugal swore. "Coward. Well, no matter. You Instinctual Killers now work for me. Any questions?" He drew his hand across his chest. Small streaks of blood glistened in its wake.

"Nope!"  
"No way!"  
"Not a rrrone."  
"NoNe wHaTsOeVeR."  
"000011110. INTERROGATIVES UNNECCESSARY. 10010011."  
"Hardly!"  
"Nuh-" "-uh!"  
"SCRREEEEAH!"  
"Was that a 'no'?"  
"I dunno."  
"Yeah, it was. I heard it say that when it wants more meat and got given a head of lettuce."

Rugal nodded. "And you Rave Warriors?"

Nods all around from Jack-2, Paul Phoenix, and Baek. Kuma didn't nod, but then again bears don't.

Rugal nodded in satisfaction, then stopped. "I don't understand. Where is the fifth one? There _were_ five of you, no?"

* * *

**Sub-Basement 291-AX**

King was running at top speed. He was praying as he ran.

_I helped evil to reign over good! Even if it _was_ accidental! I must atone for my misdeeds... I shall find the Sakazaki person and prostrate myself before them although I won't kneel, I only kneel to God, you know, I won't prostrate, actually, but I'll bow and offer him my services as he sees fit and oh god I can't believe I did such a bad thing for just some money for the kids at the orphanage and..._

* * *

**The Ring**

"GET AWAY! GETAWAYFROMME! AHHHHHHH!" Ranma Saotome was backing away frantically from Felicia. Felicia, for her part, was rather confused.

"What's the matter, kiddo? I don't bite!" She added coyly, "not 'less you want me to..." (Up in the stands, an armrest was crunched in the clenching fist of Akane.)

Gen-An scurried over, smiling. "Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! She bites, kid! Mmmmmm! Fssst! Fssst!"

Ranma howled. "SHUT UP!" One Tenshin Amaguriken sent the little clawed hunchback over the "ropes". He landed in Freddy's Revenge.

A clawed shadow fell across him. Gen-An, for some unknown reason, felt very very scared.

Ranma had now broken into a flat-out run. "GETOUTTAMYWAY!" he screamed, shoving both Wolverine and Guy out of his path. He finally ran flat-into Terry Bogard.

"GOTTAGETAWAYMOVEMOVEMOVE!"

Terry shrugged. "Okay." With that, he grabbed Ranma by the shoulders and slammed him onto the mat just in front of the "ropes". Ranma then *bounced* over the ropes (a testimonial to the force of Terry's slam). The feliphobic warrior landed in Xevious and promptly got the living hell blasted out of him. However, being Ranma, he was only slightly bruised.

Meanwhile:

"You got it that time! Tell me you got it that time!"

"Ummmmmmm. No, can't say as, sorry."

Over in another corner, Pai Chan was having a horrible time with Ukyo Tachibana. She simply couldn't compensate for his reach.

None of this stopped Lau from offering commentary. "No! No! Not like that! No, use the JUMP kick! Come on! I taught you better than that! Jump... no, not like **that**! Anyone could see he was going to slash upwards! Come on, Pai, come on... nonono! NEVER follow a duck punch with a simple standing kick, it's too slow to be effective! Didn't you ever LISTEN to me? Okay, okay, that's good, sweetie, you got him now, you're timing his slashes, that's... NO! Didn't I teach you to research your opponents? It's one of the three R's! Don't make me tell you the three R's again! What's WRONG, honey?"

"SHUT UP, DADDY!" Pai spouted off. Unfortunately, she turned to say this, and was promptly slashed up the back by Ukyo, which carried her over the "ropes".

Pai landed on a bed. Everything was so huge...

"A hostile!" yelled a spaceman. "She appeared from nowhere! But don't worry! I'll shoot her with my laser!"

A cowboy, hiding behind a pillow, popped his head up and yelled. "THAT'S NOT A LASER! THAT'S A BLINKING LIGHT!"

* * *

**Sub-Basement DY1**

Ryo Sakazaki strode into the sorcerer's complex, and stopped cold.

It was quite a sight. Rose stood in the centre, weaving an incomprehensible web of powerful-looking lines into odd sigils and symbols which weaved around her scarf. The lines were crackling red energy, the same energy which Kyo Kusanagi was projecting from his hands. Ryo had _never_ seen Kyo expel so much of the stuff at once. He'd assumed there was a limit to what Kyo could summon. Apparently, he was wrong. (True. There was, however, a limit to what Kyo could control.) The thick blast Kyo shot at the floor was being refined by Mudman, sitting crosslegged in a mystic-looking circle: excess was being shunted towards Donovan, who was apparently absorbing it with his mystical sword Kilshred. Anakaris hovered overhead, finetuning the flow before it got to Rose, and Rasputin stood nearby with a strange mystic-looking field in front of him, staring at it intently and occasionally shouting out an order or spitting one of the sigils with a beam of light from an index finger. Nightwolf sat next to Kyo, playing a strange whitish light across Kyo's flow of the Source.

Jago/Doom, previously intent on joining in the casting, hastily revised his opinion. "Dangerous." he thought to himself. "Better to let them risk their lives. Doom will not be kept from wreaking vengeance upon the thieves of souls."

It was the strangest thing Ryo had ever seen. He turned to Heavy D!. "How's it going?"

D! looked at him. "Don't ask me. I just work here."

Donovan had apparently noticed Ryo. "Couple of minutes! No more!" He quickly returned his attention to his sword.

Ryo nodded. "Great, great. Where _is_ everybody? We need Charlie down here right away! It was *his* job to take on the enchantment!"

"Charlie isn't here." Lei Wulong volunteered.

"But that was the plan! Where..." He paused, and turned to Yoshimitsu. "I didn't tell him, did I? I forgot to tell him."

"The Yoshimitsu 2000 knows that only a knowing and compassionate pause will be acceptable at this time!"

Ryo rubbed his temples and turned to Donovan. "Is there time for me to go get Charlie?"

Donovan shouted frantically. "NO! It's gotta be now!"

Ryo looked around. "Now. Right. Okay. Um." He examined each of his compatriots. Lei Wulong. Yeah, Lei could do it! He'd be a *great* choice!

Before Ryo could open his mouth, Lei shook his head. "Nah. But thanks. Really."

Okay, Lei was out. Heavy D! Yeah, D! would be _perfect_ for it...

D! noticed Ryo examining him and stepped backwards. "Not me, man. Magic gives me a rash." Ryo turned away, dejected. Lei looked at D!, who shrugged.

"I, also, must decline, for this is not my body. It would be tomfoolery for me." Jago/Doom pointed out, and thought: "And it seems rather ill-preserving to volunteer. Better to let the noble one do it."

Ryo turned once more and looked at Yoshimitsu. He then turned away without saying anything.

Ryo looked at the energy. "Does it _have_ to be me?"

D! grinned. "Hey, you're the leader-man."

"I'm **not**. Don't call me that. I'm not a leader, I'm just..."

"Who cares?" shouted Donovan. "Go step on that circle over there! NOW!"

Ryo ran over to the circle and stepped in it. Instantly, Rose turned around to face him. Snapping her scarf up, she stiffened it with mental power. The sigils floating around her head started traveling along the length of the scarf and clustered at the end.

The cluster grew bigger. Anakaris hovered down over top of Mudman's mystic circle and began reinforcing it with his own weave of light. Rasputin did the same, striding over and adding a third weave.

Suddenly, Rose gestured with her free hand, and the sigils and symbols free-floating in the air were upon Ryo. They didn't hurt a bit. They just... tingled.

In the space of a few seconds, Ryo was covered in sigils, from head to toe. Not a bare inch of skin or cloth could be seen. Rose, her job done, went over to the mystic circle and added a fourth weave to the pattern. Kyo's expellation of the Source had reached massive proportions, and the circle was no longer channeling, but rather storing. Nightwolf stopped reinforcing the Source flow with his own divine connection, and ran over to the circle, touching it and adding the power of divinity to the mix.

Heavy D!, Jago/Doom, Lei Wulong, and Yoshimitsu all stepped back about twenty feet.

Suddenly, the massive crackling noise filling the room was disrupted. "NOW!" shouted Donovan, and the circle suddenly became a cylinder, propelling massive amounts of altered Source directly at Ryo. The Kyokogenryu stylist was enveloped in the energy, and now even the sigils were obscured in the fiery blaze. Kyo continued to pour it on. Sweat poured down the faces of Rasputin, Nightwolf, and Rose (and it could be safely assumed that Mudman was sweating behind his mask).

Suddenly, Kyo broke off his flow of the Source. The massive energy flow ceased, to reveal Donovan Bane holding Kyo's hands apart, keeping him from accessing the massive power at the youth's fingertips. Kyo struggled at first, clearly wanting to return to channeling, but after a few moments (during which Donovan spoke intently and quietly to Kyo) he slumped, and Donovan let go.

Kyo wasn't the only one slumping. Rose, Mudman, and Anakaris were all unconscious, Rasputin was sitting against a wall breathing heavily, and Nightwolf was leaning heavily on the same wall.

Suddenly, the flow dissipated around Ryo. In one instant, nothing could be seen; in the next, he stood there, in his familiar white gi. Except... he was different, somehow. As if he were... shimmering?

Ryo's voice came out. It seemed slightly louder. "What happened?"

"It worked." Rasputin's voice was hoarse. "You've been successfully enchanted."

"Great. Okay. We'll need to get the mages guarded..."

Rasputin shook his head tiredly. "No, Ryo, we _can't_ do that. You're going to need all the manpower you've got for your final assault. We aren't important anymore. If Demitri wins, we're all dead anyway, right?"

Ryo grimaced. "I don't wanna leave you down here alone. Can you and Nightwolf defend yourselves?"

Rasputin shook his head. "Right now I couldn't light a candle. Nightwolf?"

The Native American shrugged. "I'm not off so bad, 'cause I stepped into the weave last... plus, I _do_ have my axe handy. I can probably put up a fair fight, but I'm real tired."

Rasputin smiled. "There. He'll do. Nightwolf should be able to manage. Now **go**, Ryo. You haven't got a choice in the matter. Take everyone else with you and go."

Ryo looked around in defeat. "Yeah. Okay. Kyo, Donovan? You coming?"

Kyo nodded. "Couldn't stop me."

D! looked confused. "You aren't tired?"

Kyo shrugged. "Nope."

Jago/Doom nodded in understanding. "The lad is a tap to an source of elemental power. He would not be tired, no matter how vast a power source he expends." He thought: "After this is done, I _must_ learn his secrets, or take him as my prisoner until he is my willing servant. Perhaps at another one of these "tourneys"..."

Donovan nodded. "Odd, that. But anyway, I'm coming too. Kilshred absorbed most of the excess energy, so I'm fine."

Ryo smiled. "Okay, great. We'll stop off to pick up some more fighters in the Eliminated seating, then go beat up the bad guys..."

* * *

**The Ring**

Magneto was continuing to have a field day in the ring. Magnetic Beams, Polaris Blasts, and Shockwaves were all tossed out with abandon. Magneto was getting so cocky, he didn't even pay attention to what was behind him.

Lucky for Sie Kensou, who Hokyudyanned Magneto's back, making the immensely powerful mutant stagger forward. Sie dashed forward and capitalized on his luck with an Ietsikama into Magneto's head. The headstand-flip knocked Magneto silly, and over the "ropes".

Magnus landed in Mega Man III, and promptly disassembled Flash Man in a fit of murderous rage before destroying the whole of Flashtown.

Sie pumped his fist. "YES! YAHOOOO!"

He was interrupted by Guy coming over. "SorryIcan'ttalklongbuttheyneedyouontheoutsideso..." Guy Rising Spin Kicked the young Chinese Fighting King over the "ropes". Sie Kensou landed in Open Ice. Mark Messier was at a loss.

Guy, reacting to some previously unknown sixth sense, then jumped straight up; just in time for Hsien-Ko's fist to miss hitting him and slam into the "ropes", causing a mild case of electrocution. Guy landed as she collapsed, then flipped behind her. As she rose, he slammed her with a four-hit chain combo, ending in a roundhouse which slammed her over the side. She too landed in Open Ice. Mark Messier goggled.

Meanwhile:

"PLEASE tell me you got it that time. Please."

"Look, just once more. I'm sure I'll get it in time."

* * *

**Sub-Basement BR-25C**

Robert Garcia winced.

Mai had run off with an unconcious Yuri (although, of course, Yuri had beaten the living crap out of her first, and Robert was fairly sure that Mai had been seriously limping on her way out) and left Andy Bogard for Robert. Andy was managing nicely, but the simple fact remained: until one of them pulled out a big blow, nobody was walking away from this fight. They were simply too evenly matched.

Right now, Andy was Choretsudaning him. Robert dearly wished he could pull that trick with the log that had become famous in internodal tourney lore.

Suddenly, he had an idea of his own.

Collapsing to his knees, he pretended to be in pain.

"Please... Andy... no more... hurts..."

Andy smiled. "I know, Robert, and I _am_ sorry, but believe me, it's for the better good. When we take you to meet the mistress, you'll be thanking us for it. However, until then, I can't let you leave. So, I'll just Choretsudan you one last time... maybe I'll do the flaming one. You deserve at least that much."

Andy walked back. Robert continued to breathe heavily, nearly lying down.

Andy turned around and saluted. "Sayonara, Robert. When you wake up, you'll be in a brand new world, and you'll love it, I promise."

Andy launched himself into the Flaming Choretsudan. The flying fiery being launched towards Robert.

Robert quickly rolled backwards, just out of the arc of Andy's attack, and began a familiar motion.

As Andy landed, angered at Robert's deception, his eyes widened as he realized what Robert was doing. But there was no time for him to react.

"HAOHSHOHKOHKEN!"

The wave of energy knocked Andy back into a wall and out cold.

Robert staggered over to Andy. "Better world, my ass." He started off for the Eliminated seating. He'd need help to get Yuri back.

**Room 245, RumbleDome Hotel**

"So, are you going to enslave Rugal?" Morrigan inquired.

Demitri shook his head. "No. Too much trouble to bother, and I must leave immediately. But I _could_ use some more agents. Heihachi!"

The gigantic Rave Warrior came forth.

"How many more of your company are present in this hotel?"

"There is the mighty Sumo Ganryu, the Devil Kazuya, the kickboxer Bruce..."

"Good enough. Take Morrigan around to them and any others you can think of so she can introduce them to the proper side. Meet us in my room, 1891...and _please_ don't anger me by being late..."

* * *

**The Ring**

"So, that means..."

"Yes!" Spinal was ecstatic.

"And so, the joke is..."

"YES!"

Kim Kaphwan's face screwed up. "That's **disgusting**!" He slammed Spinal with a roundhouse kick, following it up with his stylized Flash Kick. Spinal went flying over the "ropes".

The Instinctual Killer landed in Duck Hunt, where a small dog ran off with his leg.

Kim nodded. "Serves you right for being so dirty!" He then noticed M. Bison shooting off Psycho Shots at Ken, who was responding with fireballs. The gigantic madman was screaming something about "there's only one of you this time! HAHAHAHAHAHA!" (Kim was almost completely sure about the HAHAHAHAHA part.)

Noting that Bison was standing right next to the "ropes", Kim formulated a plan and jumped up.

The next thing Bison knew (after seeing Ken connect with his Psycho Shot most pleasingly), his entire world was filled with feet stomping his face.

"YATTAYATTAYATTAYATTAYATTA!"

Kim followed his stomping attack with a quick thrust kick, sending Bison staggering backwards into the "ropes".

***Zorch***

Bison stagered forward, smoking slightly. All he saw then was Kim standing there, and then leaping in...

"YATTAYATTAYATTAYATTAYATTAYATTAYATTAYATTAYATTAYATTAYATTAYATTA YATTAYATTAYATTATTAYATTAYATTAYATTAYATTA!"

Bison, not to put it too bluntly, was in Kick Hell. The final upsweeping kick knocked him over "the ropes".

He didn't appear anywhere. The DimensionCam showed blackness.

"BRANT!"

"He's in the Psycho Combat Stage of Mortal Kombat III... apparently Noob Saibot is kicking the crap out of him. One sec. I'll turn the volume up..."

Suddenly, from the DimensionCam shot arose a great clatter of beating and screaming.

Birdman relaxed.

(In Room 245 of the RumbleDome Hotel, Demitri grimaced. "You're here. Good. Now hurry along. You're coming with us.")

Over in another corner, Felicia was somehow managing to beat up _both_ Shang Tsung and Wolverine at the same time. (Her task was made easier by the fact that Shang Tsung and Wolverine had discovered a mutual loathing for one another, and were focusing sheerly on beating the crap out of one another.) One final Rolling Flash sent the pair of them (still kicking and punching at one another) over the "ropes".

They landed in Punch-Out. Glass Joe carefully avoided their brawl, muttering something about his sacroiliac joint.

"You are no matchworld for the power of the Outworld, mortal!"

"Outworld? That Sean Connery movie, bub? Shaddap and fight!"

Ken, meanwhile, was now pounding on Jax.

"Nice arms, weenie! Can't fight with 'em, though! But you can morph 'em? Does that make you popular with the ladies?"

Ken grabbed the staggering (and incidentally not-answering) Jax and picked him up. "Later, loser!"

(Jax, for his part, was realy out of it. He'd been distracted for *ages* by Kano's appearance at the Rumble, and had had to be escorted back to his quarters twice by Security when he went off looking for the criminal. Jax was also mentally compiling a note of apology to the bellboy with the eyepatch.)

Suddenly, Ken felt something pulling at his backside, as he tossed Jax out of the ring. (Jax landed in Countdown. The killer cyborgs all gave him a wide berth.)

"Hey! Take your hands off me! You know who I am? I'm Ken! THE Ken! As in Masters! As in..."

Terry heaved and tossed.

"Look, this _obviously_ is a mistake. If you want an autograph I'll be more than happy to accomodate yooooooooooooooouuuuuuuuuu..."

Ken also landed in Countdown. The killer cyborgs did _not_ give him a wide berth.

Terry muttered to himself. "He was a shmuck in his youth, too. Damn."

* * *

_Original Authors_

Chris "Birdman" Bird  
Brant Rogers  
Scott Johnson  
Austin Loomis


	24. Section 12

**Section Twelve**

**The Ring**

**"ORCHID!"** (Killer Instinct)

The last fighter from the Killer Instinct tourney was berating herself on her way down to ringside.

"Stupid! Stupid stupid stupid! Always read the fine print, they said, but did I listen? Nooooooo! I went and signed away my soul to the man I was supposed to bring down, and all I got out of it was slavery..."

* * *

**"NAKORURU!"** (Samurai Showdown 2)

A huge cheer arose.

"Yay, Nak! Go, Nak! Come on, Nakky! You're the greatest! You can win this thing, I know you can!" Galford was jumping up and down as he shouted himself hoarse.

Poppy coughed up a hairball.

* * *

**"ICEMAN!"** (X-Men: Children of the Atom)

Iceman looked around nervously. Haohmaru, of course, was nowhere in sight. He pondered his options. Should he stay and make sure that nobody working for the bad guys should get eliminated, so they wouldn't be free to serve evil? Or should he try to get out as quickly as possible to help everyone else?

He was so distraught, he didn't even notice the tabloid reporter asking him if he was gay.

* * *

**Room 245, RumbleDome Hotel**

Demitri surveyed the force he was leaving behind.

Rugal sat in a chair, idly clenching his fist. Two of four Tekken fighters Blacknoah had hired (Baek and Jack-2) were present. Paul Phoenix and Kuma were going along with the Haohmaru party. In addition, virtually the entire Killer Instinct node (except for Spinal, Orchid, and Jago) was staying behind. Chang Koehan was humming contentedly to himself in a corner. Finally, Colossus remained, as Demitri's representation for the area.

Demitri nodded in satisfaction. "Radio Bison and tell him to come along to 1891...I shall want him to head up a security detail."

Iori Yagami's eyebrows shot up at that.

Demitri smiled at Iori as they walked out. "Do not worry. You are still my lieutenant."

"But why Bison, then?"

"I expect that should any force defeat Rugal's assortment of flunkies, we shall need someone expendable to launch an attack as they come at us...an ambush, so to speak. Bison seems especially suitable, yes?"

* * *

**The Ring**

**"SHUN DI!"** (Virtua Fighter 2)  
**"CHIN GENTSAI!"** (King of Fighters '95)

Shun Di staggered down to ringside hand in hand with Chin Gentsai. They were singing.

Loudly.

"o/~SO I'llll take the loooooooow road, an'...an' o/~...Chin, that's your part."

"Oh. Oh yeah. Um. Uh...o/~ an' I'll take the hiiiiC! iiigh rooooooad...o/~ we sing this bit together, Shun."

"Oh. Okay. Count of two. One, two..." Chin joined him in singing off-key. "o/~an' I'll play SF3 before yaaaaaa...o/~"

"Good s-song, Chin."

"Why, th-th-th-HIC! okay, that's nice of you to say, Shun! Want some... uummmm... what did I put in there this morning...?" Chin took an expermental guzzle. "Oh! Yeah! Scotch!"

"Scotch? Mmmmm. Oh." Shun frowned. "But we don't have-HIC!-have-HIC!-have-HIC! got any ice."

Chin's eyes narrowed. "Ice?"

"Yeah! Can't have the scotch without the rocks, y'know..." Shun tailed off as he saw Chin glaring at him. "Whass wrong...? Wait, you aren't tryin' to tell me you have it straight?"

They were at it tooth and nail two seconds later.

* * *

**"HUITZIL!"** (Darkstalkers 2)

"Multiple target acquisitions. Enhance aiming system powerflows to compensate for advanced drain on crosshair generators."

* * *

**"KING!"** (King of Fighters '95)

King grimaced. She had been hoping for an earlier draw (a rarity,  
here. The hoping. Not the draw) so she could team up with her teammates from Team England and double-team and triple-team the opposition.

She considered what she'd just thought and thanked the stars she hadn't said it out loud.

* * *

**"BISHAMON!"** (Darkstalkers 2)

The runner-up of last year's UVR strode down to ringside. He was carefully admonishing his armor, sword, and little blue flames.

"Listen to me. No fooling around. The whole universe is in danger here, and I won't have you destroying our chances at saving it. If any of you disobey me... even **once**... I will make sure that after this is done I will jump into an active volcano holding all of you tightly. Understood?"

A chorus of smallish gulps and "yes, sirs" could be heard.

* * *

**Eliminated Seating**

Robert Garcia staggered into the seating, looking like hell warmed over.

Charlie rushed over to him, as did Stryker. "Jesus! What happened to you?" said Charlie.

Robert grunted. "Later. We gotta go."

At that precise moment, Ryo Sakazaki (shimmering) arrived, with Heavy D!, Lei Wulong, Donovan Bane, Yoshimitsu, and Jago/Doom in tow.

Ryo looked at Robert. "What happened to you?"

Robert looked at Ryo. "What happened to _you_?"

"Never mind. We're going. Who's coming?"

Stryker nodded. "I am."

"You couldn't *keep* me away." said Charlie.

Matrix came over. "Can I come?"

Everyone wondered briefly about the merits of having a Time Killer along, then nods of acquiesence were made.

Sasquatch came over, and said something like "chuffle chuffle chuffle."

Donovan Bane translated. "That's "I want in", roughly."

Kim Dragon came over. "I **said** I was in. And Storm, here," he gestured to the X-Woman, gliding over "can join us."

Ryo looked around at his force.

"You realize some of us might die? This isn't just fighting."

Jago/Doom looked at him scornfully. "What did you think we expected? We fight for honor! To die honorably is better than to die a coward!"

"We're Marines! We don't leave our people behind!" contributed Yoshimitsu.

"Um, what he said." muttered Heavy D!. He looked at Ryo. "You still got that stake I gave you?"

Ryo patted his side. Remarkably, the stake was still there. "Yeah."

"Good. Use it if you get the chance."

Suddenly, their talk was interrupted by two parties staring balefully at one another. Shao Kahn was heading over, flanked by Kano. However, Shang Tsung, obviously meant to be following on the other side, was staring into Wolverine's eyes with nothing more than hatred.

Shao Kahn turned. "**Tsung! Do not waste your time on the Earther! We have more important things to do. My honor will not go unchallenged!**" He turned to Ryo. "**Mortal, I, Kano, and Shang Tsung will be joining you, as previously agreed. Let us go together to destroy the honorless dog Demitri.**"

Wolverine ran up. "I'm comin' too. I don't trust these punks."

Finally, Sie Kensou, fresh from elimination, ran up. "I'm not too late, am I?"

Ryo sighed. "Let's go, then. We haven't got all day."

* * *

**The Ring**

**"CHUN LI!"** (Street Fighter Alpha)

Chun Li ran down to ringside. As she looked at Ryu she tried hard not to giggle.

She barely succeeded.

For his part, Ryu paid no attention to the goings-on, as he was busy meditating on his short-lived conquest in this fight. Obviously, someone had exploited a flaw in his style. Style errors could not be tolerated. Ryu would root them out.

* * *

**"GOKUU!"** (World Heroes Perfect)

"Who _is_ this loser?" muttered Lucky Glauber.

"HEY!" shouted Gokuu. "I'm mean! Look! I painted a kanji on my back and everything! It means 'ten'!" He pointed at a crudely painted kanji on the back of his shirt. The paint was still fresh.

"Actually," remarked Hanzou, "that one means 'zero'."

Gokuu fumed.

* * *

**"KUNG LAO!"** (Mortal Kombat 3)

Kung Lao ran down to ringside, planning a strategy against Motaro, whom he had seen in the waiting room before the entrance.

He couldn't think of one.

* * *

**"RANCID!"** (Time Killers)

Rancid walked down to ringside with a look on his face. It was the look of someone who thought he was going to die.

Nobody understood this. After all, Rancid had eliminated four people last year...

* * *

**Room 1891, RumbleDome Hotel**

"Yes, my master. I am at your beck and call." Bison groveled before Demitri, prostrated.

Part of Demitri was amused at mighty Bison worhsipping him like an idol. However, most of him was simply irritated. "Get up."

Bison got up. "What do you wish me to do, master?"

"Take a detail out. I wish you to prepare an ambush for any dogooders that can be ready to move at a moment's notice."

"Who do you wish me to take, master?"

Demitri pondered this.

At that exact moment, Morrigan came in with more fighters following her like puppies. She grinned. "You know, Demitri, I should thank you for..."

"Yes. You **should**. But let us not bother with it for now. Who have you brought me?"

"Let's see. This is Lee... and Anna... and Ganryu... and Kazuya (he was a feisty one, I must say)... and Bruce. Good enough?"

"It will suffice for now. Bison, you will take..." Demitri pondered. "Adon, Birdie, Ryoko, Fuuma, Pyron, Blue Mary, Heihachi, Bob Wilson, Jubei Yagyu, Nina Williams, and Eiji Kasaragi. Prepare to march on my orders..."

* * *

**The Ring**

**"MOTARO!"** (Mortal Kombat 3)

Motaro teleported into the ring and instantly started slamming everyone in sight. A number of fighters aimed projectiles at the monster (ignoring Kung Lao's screams of "NO! DON'T!"), but his reflection abilities (granted to him by Shao Kahn) gave them all quite a surprise (not to mention a number of stuns). His tail lashed around, knocking Jeffry, Bishamon, and Chun Li off their feet. Picking up Guy, he slammed the Alpha Fighter with one mighty fist across the ring.

He raised his head and roared. "NOBODY CAN STOP MOTARO!"

* * *

**"KINTARO!"** (Mortal Kombat 2)

The arena went silent.

Kintaro's red eyes glowed.

"MOTARO! Foul Centuran! Feel the wrath of the Shokan! Feel **MY** wrath! Shao Kahn's magics will not protect you from me!"

Motaro swallowed hard.

* * *

**Sub-Basement 21-JST**

King was running at top speed. He _had_ to find the doers of good and offer them his knowledge of the enemy. It was his only way to atone.

Suddenly, running through a door, he ran straight into Spinal, who had been heading the other way.

Spinal quickly recognized King as one working for Rugal. "Hey! What are you doing down here?"

In King's defense, it should be noted that he was pious, friendly, terrific with children, brave, and kind.

Nowhere did we mention "quick-witted".

"Um. I'm on a mission for Rugal. He sent me down here to find... um... Billy Kane. Yeah."

"Oh, okay. Me and Gen-An can help you out, then." The little green hunchback scurried into view.

"Oh, that won't be necessary. I can do it myself..."

Spinal's voice turned suspicious. "Really. I insist."

"Um. Well, um..." he brandished his crucifix. "Get back, undead!"

Spinal laughed. "Oh, puh-leese! I'm a scientific breakthrough, not some cheesy dark ritual!" He poked King with his sword. "It says so in my file!" He poked King again. "Come on, Gen-An. Looks like we've got a turncoat here."

Suddenly, Spinal was interrupted by a strange drilling sensation in his lower body. He fell back.

Rikuo, finishing up his Multi-Hit Mollusk, stood by King. "I take it you're the good guy?"

King nodded mutely.

"Okay. You can tell me the rest later."

WHO WILL LIVE?  
WHO WILL DIE?  
KINTARO OR MOTARO?

* * *

_Original Authors_

Chris "Birdman" Bird  
Brant Rogers  
Scott Johnson  
Austin Loomis


	25. Section 12 - Results

**Section Twelve - Results**

**The Announcer's Booth**

Birdman was pissed.

Professor Tym had left, claiming he had some kind of "experiment" that needed finishing. Now, he was waiting patiently for his next broadcast partner, but he, she, or it had yet to show up. In the hallway outside, where they _should_ have been waiting, there wasn't anyone.

Suddenly, he heard footsteps outside the booth. Throwing the door open, he rushed outside, to confront an incredibly surprised man in a trenchcoat and jeans.

"YOU! You're my new broadcast partner. Get in here." With that, Birdman grabbed him by the arm and threw him into the booth.

"Um, what..."

"Don't just babble, kid. What's your name?"

"Thomas Wilde. Listen, man, I was just looking for the bathroom..."

"Shut up. Get in the chair and announce things."

Thomas looked around warily. "Is this a trick?"

"If it is, then we're both being fooled. All of my guests have bolted, so you're it. Congratulations."

"Wow."

Birdman turned to the microphone, then, frowning, turned back to Thomas. "If you're going to be up here, you need a nickname. It's video tourney tradition."

Thomas shrugged. "If you say so." He still looked vaguely like he'd been smacked with a two-by-four. "What should it be?"

Birdman looked at him sideways. "You just wandered up here, right?"

"Yeah."

Birdman turned back to the microphone, and said, "Ouch! It looks like Kintaro and Motaro are simply dominating, folks. Nobody else can fight in the same ring as the two of them. Your thoughts, Wanderer?"

"Huh?" That declaration of cluelessness was broadcast throughout the RumbleDome.

Covering the microphone, Birdman stage-whispered, "It's your name."

"Oh, right...I'd have to say-"

"Talk into the microphone!"

"-I'd have to say that if anyone hopes to get anything really done this round, someone's going to have to do something about the two of them. Both of them are so mobile that they're taking up too much of the space allotted the fighters."

Birdman covered the mike again. "You'll do just fine. Say more."

**The Ring**

The assembled fighters jumped backward.

Kintaro slammed to the ground where they had been standing, and immediately stood back up. "You will have to do better than that to stop me, Centaurian!"

Motaro flickered out of sight, then reappeared behind Kintaro (on top of Gokuu, not coincidentally). "Then I will **do** better." Motaro was then slammed with a two-fisted uppercut, sending him back about twenty feet.

"Little horse, the KAHN could not defeat me! What do YOU think your chances are?!"

"Fair to excellent, worm!" Motaro fired several energy blasts from his tail at Kintaro while he spoke, and the Shokan fighter was unable to block.

Meanwhile, most of the rest of the ring was simply dodging the two of them. As Birdman had noted, there was precious little room to stand in, and almost every fighter present was doing their damnedest to claim some part of it. Eliminating other fighters was not really a concern.

Not really a concern, that is, unless one happened to be either Shun Di or Chin Gentsai. The two drunken masters were battling viciously, barely avoiding various unpleasant fates at the hands of Kintaro or Motaro, and neither could seem to get the upper hand. Chin Gentsai was compensating for Shun Di's _much_ greater strength by repeatedly bopping him with his gourd, and, more importantly, absolutely refusing to stay linear. He was constantly sidestepping Shun's kicks and punches, retaliating with rolling punches and forward kicks.

The four fighters weaved in and out of each other in a deadly dance. Shun kicked at Chin, the force of his kick carrying him just beyond Motaro's double-footed kick, which Kintaro blocked. Kintaro teleported and stomped on Motaro, his initial jump carrying him just out of the range of Chin's badly aimed Thunder Blast. Motaro's retaliatory tail sweep forced both Shun and Chin to jump, but did nothing but enrage the unsweepable Kintaro. Chin's rolling punch sent him into the path of a haymaker from Kintaro, and out of it at the last second to strike at Shun. At the last minute, each fighter was able to avoid a stray attack from another duelist and deal one of his own to his enemy.

It was an amazing display of skill on the part of both parties. It would have been more impressive, though, if it had been at all intentional.

After about five minutes of this, King yelled, "That's it! This is **stupid**! DOUBLE STRIKE!" The projectiles sped towards Motaro.

Kung Lao yelled something, but King knew about Motaro's reflective abilities; as a matter of fact, she was counting on them.

King's Venom Strikes hit Motaro in the chest, but, instead of hitting him dead on, King had aimed them precisely. The Strikes bounced off at a forty-five degree angle and struck Chin in the back of the head, knocking him out of the ring.

"Bank shot! Yes!" King cheered.

Chin found himself in the Star Wars Cantina. He fit right in.

Kung Lao was staring at King.

She smiled. "Don't tell me you never thought of that."

All he could do was shake his head.

Meanwhile, Kintaro had taken the advantage over Motaro, who had been caught off-guard. The Shokan wouldn't let up, constantly punching the centaur with fists roughly the size of small South American countries. Green blood flew all over the place. Finally, Motaro tried something that had never failed, and began teleporting like mad. Flicking in and out of reality, he threw energy bolts at the Shokan, which Kintaro was usually unable to block. Finally, Motaro teleported one last time behind Kintaro... but Kintaro wasn't there anymore.

Motaro was struck by his full weight as he fell out of the sky. Picking up the dazed centaur, Kintaro threw the creature over the "ropes" with a single heave of his left arms.

The centaur landed in Final Doom, where a Marine, thinking he was a demon, immediately shot him 397 times.

Wanderer covered his eyes. "Oh, that was gross..."

* * *

"Hey, baby. Wanna get a drink after the Rumble?"

"Shut **up**, Gokuu! ROWRR!"

"OW! NOT THE FACE!"

* * *

Meanwhile, Orchid was feeling pretty good about herself. She had taken note of the failures of other Killer Instinctives, and knew where they had gone wrong. With Lasakens and Firecats, she was harassing King Lao. Finally, she slammed him with a jumping punch, then immediately threw a forward kick as she landed.

Looking distinctly unimpressed, Kung Lao teleported behind her and kicked her in the back of the head. He then proceeded to punish Orchid with a seven-hit combo, knocking her away.

As Orchid got up, she saw Chun Li advancing on her. With a laugh, Orchid spun around on her hands, slamming a pair of green heels into Chun Li's head. As she landed, she rushed forward, her two lightsabers gleaming, and spun into a Monster Combo. Fortunately, none of these people from other nodes had Combo Breakers...

Some people, however, had Alpha Counters.

Chun Li threw a crouching forward kick, breaking the combo.

"I don't have time for amateurs! KIKOKEN!"

The fireball knocked Orchid over the "ropes."

She landed in Time Crisis, and stared around her when she _should_ have been scrambling for cover. Carnage ensued.

Felicia was picking on Terry Bogard. The Man With The Hat's typical tactics were proving rather weak against the catwoman's fast and furious style; she would bound in, attack, and then she would be gone. His Power Waves were being stuffed with Sand Splashes, she didn't remain in one place long enough to bother with a Crack Shot, and his Burn Knuckles hit too high for him to avoid the subsequent Rolling Bucklers. Finally, his patience gone, seeing red, he stood there in the middle of the ring, his fists clenched, gritting his teeth.

"What's the matter, mouse? Getting upset?" Felicia purred, batting at the air. Unfortunately, she was so intent on teasing her prey that she ignored the warning cries from her fans in the audience. "Come on, mouse... I don't bite... okay, I do, but you won't feel it..." Felicia crept closer-

-and she realized what he was doing.

"POWER GEYSER!"

Too late.

The catwoman was knocked into Thugg's stage from Time Killers. Looking around, all she saw was an enormous dinosaur, obviously dead, and miles of prehistoric jungle. She sat down to sulk.

* * *

**Room 245, RumbleDome Hotel**

His head hurt... he wasn't exactly sure why, either. Wait... he knew. Eiji Kisaragi and Billy Kane had happened. Where was Charlotte? The only other person he could see was one of those Shodowners, trussed up like a prize bird...

DEMITRI! It all came back to him... he had been floating in and out of unconsciousness, but Demitri was moving up to Room... Room 1891... he had to tell the others.

And to do that, he had to escape... through the people in the next room...

Better yet. Around them.

But first...

Rugal's hand idly tapped on the table he sat at.

He studied the assembled Instinctual Killers with a look like fire. This was incredibly bad. He had gone from being able to use his own agents, to this band of idiots. The only one worth anything, Jago, was only a viable fighter by dint of the fact that he was not currently occupying his body.

He was trying to figure out what he, Chang, Baek, Jack-2, and Colossus would be able to do if someone actually *did* attack in force (Earthquake was en route) that he was taken completely by surprise by a loud exclamation from the next room.

"...Shinkuu... **GADOKEN!**"

There was a sudden explosion. One of the room's walls no longer existed.

Rugal threw himself to his feet with a startled obscenity. No one had remembered that Dan Hibiki was in there.

"Combo! Baek! GET HIM! KAISER WAVE!" Rugal threw one of his trademark projectiles through the door to the adjoining room, wrecking several thousand dollars' worth of furniture but not striking Dan, who was already in the hallway and running like mad. The aforementioned Tekkeneer and Killer Instinctive were out the door and after him a moment later.

* * *

**Room 1891, RumbleDome Hotel**

Demitri surveyed his band. With Bison's force's departure, his personal guard had shrunk alarmingly.

"Morrigan, go get some more people."

"Isn't this enough, Demitri?" she said. She was sitting demurely (how's _that_ for irony?) on Wolf Hawkfield's lap. "I'm tired..."

The vampire simply looked at her.

"All right, all right, I'm going..." Morrigan floated out at the same time Kazuya and Bruce came in carrying the cage that contained Jon Talbain. Billy Kane was behind them with a limp Takuma Sakazaki over his shoulder. Last but not least, Haohmaru's unconscious body was being dragged in by Eiji Kisaragi and Lord Raptor, both of whom were touching the samurai like he was going to bite. (Which he probably would have, had he been conscious.)

Demitri looked at Jon, who was lying in his cage. The werewolf looked utterly beaten. "I'm so glad they remembered you, Jon...I need someone on my intellectual level to talk to."

Jon simply snarled. He was gathering his strength.

"After all, you and I are going to have quite a while to talk, but once you're my slave...well, there goes all of the interesting conversations we'll have. Such is life," the vampire reflected.

Suddenly, a darkness invaded the corners of Demitri's vision, and he went to his knees. Pain was driving through his every nerve, and something like fire was scourging his flesh from his bones. Jon looked at this, thinking that Demitri was having some kind of seizure.

I WANT WHAT YOU'VE OFFERED ME, MAXIMOV.

(I will deliver it to you!) Demitri screamed inside his mind. (Millions of souls will be yours, as soon as I am able. This I swear, Dark Guy.)

THAT HAD BEST BE VERY SOON, WORM. MIZUKI CAN TELL YOU HOW I FEEL ABOUT FAILURE...

Demitri straightened, his vision clear, his skin-miraculously, it seemed to him-untouched. "Set up the altar!" he screamed at his slaves. "This will proceed!"

* * *

**Sub-Basement 21-JST**

There was a phrase for fights like this, Gen-An reflected sourly. That word was "slaughter."

Spinal was destroyed in seconds by King. The Tekkeneer had neatly scooped the Killer Instinctive out of its initial charge and suplexed it into the floor. After repeated, similar treatment, as well as an application of the dreaded Octopus Combo, Spinal...well, Spinal was gravel.

On the other hand, Rikuo was a decent opponent. While Gen-An had a greater reach and his dreaded Butcher Thrust, not to mention a stronger air game, Rikuo had a number of irritating projectiles. The occasional Screw Jet got through as well. They were moderately well-matched.

However, when King tried to jump in and put the hunchback in a choke hold, he received a Poison Blizzard for his trouble. The Tekkeener began to get noisily ill, turning purple.

Gen-An prepared to deal the wrestler a fatal slash.

Suddenly, from down the hall, a single figure appeared, moving quickly towards the fight. As he came into the shadow...

"KOURYUKEN!"

Dan flew out of the darkness, fist first. Gen-An backed up and kicked the arrogant snot in the leg on the way down, but this made the odds just a little uneven. Weighing his chances, Gen-An suddenly decided to practice the better part of valor, and fled.

Rikuo looked with surprise at Dan. Dan just looked like hell. "Where did you come from?"

Dan ignored the opportunity for sarcasm. "Demitri's moved upstairs. I have to reach Ryo-"

"That is what I need to do as well. I must make amends."

Both of them looked at King, who was slowly regaining his proper skin tone. The wrestler looked ashamed (a difficult feat, given his mask).

Rikuo looked back at Dan. "A defector."

Dan shrugged. "Beggars can't be choosers. Let's go."

Down the hallway, Baek and Combo watched the three of them leave. Neither were crazy enough to attack.

Baek was the first to break the silence. "It looks like you're going to have to tell Rugal that Dan escaped."

Combo swallowed hard. "**Me?!** _You're_ the one who let him go..."

**The Ring**

"Multiple targets. Weapons locks achieved. Exterminate!" Huitzil, with its usual wit and charm, opened up its usual can of projectile asskick. Terry Bogard was hit from behind with an Ice Beam (he then Burn Knuckled an unfortunate Iceman, thinking the mutant had done it). A Homicide Vulcan tore into Nakoruru. A series of explosions knocked Jeffry and Guy down. Ukyo raised his sword to attack, but was shot out of the air by a laser bolt.

"Target evaluations: Wimps. Initiating new opponent scan-"

"YAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYA!"

"YATTAYATTAYATTAYATTAYATTAYATTA!"

CLANG! BONG! CLANG! BONG! CLANG! BONG! CLANG! BONG! CLANG! BONG! CLANG! BONG! CLANG! CLANG! BONG! CLANG! BONG! CLANG! **CRUNCH!**

Kim Kaphwan and Chun Li looked at each other in surprise from opposite sides of Huitzil. "That's _my_ move!" they said, in perfect unison.

Huitzil was smoking dangerously. It began to bounce up and down, red lights on its "head" flashing wildly. A strange feminine voice came from within the robot's chest cavity. "Warning. Warning. Power core breach. Safeties are off-line."

"What does _that_ mean?" Chun Li asked of the world at large.

Terry Bogard looked up from what he was doing, his eyes wide. (Since beating the crap out of Iceman was what he was doing, the X-Man was happy.) "I heard that at the Dream Tournament! It's going to explode!"

"Why didn't you say something earlier?!" Kim yelled back.

"I was busy! Get rid of it!"

"All _right_, already!" Chun Li kicked it through the dimensional field.

The robot landed in front of a group of teenagers in various multi-colored outfits.

"What is _that_, Billy? One of Rita's evil tricks?"

"One moment, Kimberly. I'll examine it for anything of a highly destructive nature."

Huitzil chose that moment to go nuclear.

Back in the RumbleDome, the audience was going nuts. People were cheering, stomping their feet, and throwing their drinks into the air. Popcorn showered the ring.

Wanderer was staring at the DimensionCam. "Do you have any **idea** for how long I've wanted to see that?"

Sitting back in his chair, Birdman smiled. "Finally, our long national nightmare is over."

* * *

Meanwhile, Rancid was in trouble. It never failed. Every time he entered this bloody ring, everyone started chasing him. It was like they had something *against* the Time Killers. Was it his fault? (Well, yeah, probably, but he wasn't about to tell himself that.) No. Why were they picking on him? No one had chased Matrix around, or Orion... He, on the other hand, had been running from the moment Motaro was eliminated. Bishamon, in particular, seemed to want his head on a plate. Rancid sighed. It was just his luck.

* * *

"Excuse me, but if I said you had a beautiful body, would you hold it against me?"

"Go away, Gokuu! AMUBE YATORO!"

"OW!"

* * *

Guy was, also, having a bit of trouble. Well, okay, he was having a *lot* of trouble. Shun Di was kicking his ass. The drunken master was a constant rolling blur of kicks and punches, and Guy was simply not fast enough to block them all. He was being forced back to the edge of the platform. The Virtua Fighter jumped in, preparing to deliver a final blow that would knock him over the "ropes."

Not knowing if it would work, Guy Bushin Leaped, delivering a powerful series of jumping punches and kicks. The light faded in the ring, and a series of blue shadows trailed behind him as he hit Shun Di again and again. Finally, the combination ended, with a dazzling sunburst effect.

Shun Di was out of the ring. Guy slumped to his knees from the effort.

Shun landed in King's bar from KOF'95. Even unconscious, his finely tuned reflexes enabled him to order a shot of whiskey.

* * *

**Throughout the RumbleDome**

"Mind if I sit here?"

Clark looked up. He had just bought his sixth or eighth beer; it was starting to dull the pain from when he'd asked Janne if she had wanted to see his Vulcan Punch. "No, not at all."

Morrigan smiled cutely. He didn't see the fangs.

* * *

Pai was irritated. How *dare* her father talk to her like that in the middle of a fight? After all those years neglecting her, how *dare* he? She was going to win it all, next time. She was already planning how she would humble her father in the next Virtua Fighter tournament.

"Is there a problem, dear?"

"Do I know you, chick?" Pai demanded of the woman next to her.

"No. But you will." Morrigan moved closer.

* * *

He thought they were gone.

Sub-Zero moved around the corner, the shadows hiding him. Of course, that wouldn't do much good against Sektor's motion sensors, but he felt better. The robots had started to move again a few minutes ago, and he hadn't been able to stop running for more than a minute since.

"'Come to a tournament,' Jax says. 'They won't be able to hunt you there,' he says. 'They don't allow fighting at these things except in the ring,' he says. 'Okay,' I say," he muttered sardonically. "I should get my head examined."

"Do you always talk to yourself?" The question came from his left.

He turned, to see a beautiful woman looking at him, about half-cloaked in shadow. "Only when I'm being chased."

"Really," Morrigan replied. "You are."

* * *

Jack-2 was looking through the RumbleDome's security feeds. Unfortunately, most of the people he was looking for knew enough to avoid the cameras or disable them. Still, it kept him busy while Rugal chewed out Baek and Combo. Judging from the occasional shouts of "GENOCIDE CUTTER!" it was healthier being in here.

"Jack?" came a breathy voice from his left. "You have a link to the Dome's systems, right?"

He looked to his left, and saw Morrigan standing there. "Yes..." he said hesitantly.

"Good." She came closer. Her hand traced along his jawline. "There's something I need you to do."

* * *

A few minutes later, Sektor unplugged itself from the wall. "Units, report. This is unit LK-486, transmitting new orders." Its adjusted programming was very clear. Throughout the RumbleDome, Cyrax, Dural, Brocken, Fulgore, and Smoke stopped what they were doing and headed towards the nearest elevator.

* * *

Grrr...the _first_ elimination of the Rumble. Great title to have. Ralf loved it. He was one of the greatest fighters in the world at home, but when he came on these little interdimensional joyrides, he always seemed to get the short end of the stick. Bastards. He'd show them in '96...

"Excuse me? Ralf, right?"

"Yeah." He turned around.

"I'm a _big_ fan," Morrigan gushed.

* * *

Joe Higashi was fuming in one of the practice rooms. He had lost to *Dan!* It was like losing to Robert Garcia-if Robert had been about twelve. He delivered a flying side kick, trashing one of the punching bags and sending it careening into the corner, sand flying everywhere. There were three more bags like that.

The door creaked open behind him.

"What?!"

"Just looking for a few pointers, Joe..." Morrigan's voice was likesilk.

* * *

**Eliminated Seating**

Ryo was studying his hands. The fact that he was shimmering was just adding to the incredibly surreal feeling he was having about this entire day. A "leader," him? Takuma would laugh...

A lot was riding on him right now: his family, a lot of his friends, and beyond that, the entire Multiverse. On Ryo Sakazaki. He wished he could talk to Terry. Terry did this sort of thing all the time.

His little team of "heroes" were muttering amongst themselves. Charlie, as the military expert, was telling them all where they were going and what to expect. Shao Kahn was standing amongst them, looking so far out of place it was kind of funny. He-Kahn-was going to make a grab for Haohmaru as soon as Demitri was out of the way... Ryo knew it, and Kahn knew Ryo knew it. The question was, what to do about it?

Suddenly, Kahn stood up. "**You fools talk too much. We must go immediately, before the vampire becomes a god. I _refuse_ to be on equal terms with that insect!**"

Ryo rubbed his temples. The headache was more or less gone, but the enchantments on him were making his skull vibrate. It was very... funky, but it made tolerating Kahn more difficult.

However, staggering in through the entrance from the hotel... was that...?

Ryo ran over to help Rikuo, who was supporting both King and Dan Hibiki. Kyo Kusanagi was right behind them (he had stopped to change clothes). "What the hell happened to you?"

Dan looked at him. "What the hell happened to _you_?"

Robert walked over. "What the hell... hey, wait a minute..." Dan and Robert looked at each other for a moment, then Robert smiled at Ryo. "Handsome guy."

"I still don't see the resemblance." Dan was a bit grumpy.

Rikuo said, "Gen-An and Spinal happened to us. Billy Kane and Eiji Kisaragi happened to him. They both have something to tell you..."

As Ryo and Robert listened to him, Ryo was first shocked... then a devilish grin appeared on his face.

* * *

**The Ring**

"I'd just like to say, your father must have been a terrorist, because you are the BOMB!"

"KIKOKEN! YAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYA!" FWOOSH! BAM! CRACK! WHAM! THUD!

"You know, I'm starting to think I might not be welcome here."

* * *

Kintaro was dominating the ring. Ever since Motaro's unfortunate demise (the DimensionCam now showed the unconscious Motaro being prodded by a pair of *very* frightened knights), the Shokan warrior had been using his size to great advantage. He punched Bishamon out of his way, breathing an enormous fireball in the general direction of Rancid (who ducked). Nakoruru and Ukyo jumped in, slashing, but the Shokan teleported out of their way and fell, with his full weight, on Jeffry. With surprising speed, Kintaro grabbed Guy and Kung Lao.

"This is gonna hurt..." Kung Lao muttered through clenched teeth.

"Hardly, Shaolin. There are greater foes afoot than you...namely, those who want Haohmaru's soul. I am your ally in this...however, if someone were to win this competition, then the plot would be worthless. That is my goal. You will all fall before me, ending this threat!" Kintaro flung both fighters across the ring like rag dolls.

Guy landed safely (Kim cushioned his fall). Unfortunately for Kung Lao, though, Nakoruru was watching for an opportunity like this. "**Go**, Mamahaha!" The magical falcon wheeled into the air, hitting the Shaolin and juggling him mercilessly. Finally, he was ejected from the ring.

Galford started going crazy. "The first of many, Nak! You can do it! You can go the whole way! You're going to win! You're-"

As one, the Eliminated seating told him to shut up.

Meanwhile, Kung Lao had landed in Double Dragon. An enormous man wearing only jeans and work boots walked up to him, cracking his knuckles. "So Lee has a friend, huh? I'll crush you."

Kung Lao just smiled.

Five seconds later, Birdman was scrambling for the censor button on the DimensionCam. Nearby, Billy Lee watched idly. That was one less gang member he had to fight, but that was a really grotesque way to go...

"Well, that's it for Mortal Kombat 3. Disappointing, really." Birdman tapped a few buttons, eliminating the node from the roster. (On a more disturbing note, the ratings had jumped a few hundred points after Kung Lao's outburst, proving once again that extreme violence sells.)

"Damn. I had two bucks riding on him," Wanderer lamented. "MK4 had better get some eliminations..."

* * *

"Hey, babe, I'd just like to say-"

"Did you just call me THAT WORD?"

"What word?"

"The 'b' word."

"What, 'babe?;"

"That's it."

"Yeah, I did. Why?"

"TRAP SHOT!" *WHAM!*

"That's **it**! I'm not trying anymore."

The audience cheered.

* * *

Guy looked at Kintaro, and then at the Eliminated seating. They could really use him up there...with a sudden grim smile, the Bushitsu master ran over to King, who was resting after knocking Gokuu away from her. As he talked, her eyes widened, then she assumed a similar grim expression. King immediately ran after Kintaro.

Terry Bogard was still pounding on Iceman. As the X-Man struggled to his feet, he was struck with a pair of kicks, a kidney punch, and an uppercut that sent him into the air, where Terry joined him. "POWER... **DUNK**!" he yelled, knocking him to the ground.

Iceman recovered quickly. Terry was standing in front of him, gathering his chi for a final Power Geyser.

"For the last time, I didn't blast you! Huitzil did!"

"Sure, pal. Whatever." There was a circle of power surrounding the Bogard. He was starting, once more, to glow.

"Screw this," Iceman muttered. "I tried diplomacy. ARCTIC ATTACK!"

An ice storm swept the ring. Pellets and boulders bounced off many of the fighters, knocking most down. Only Guy, Bishamon, and (somehow) Rancid were able to block the onslaught. Terry was knocked cleanly out of his charge and slid across the mat like a shuffleboard weight.

Iceman laughed. "Gotcha, buddy! Now, I'm gonna-WHULPH!"

Bishamon's Sword Toss had connected. As the blade drew the X-Man back, the undead samurai said to him, "You talk too much." He then grasped his sword and sent Iceman out of the ring with a Rising Slash.

Iceman landed in, of all things, X-Men. Not the tournament fighter, but the side-scroller. Dazzler and Nightcrawler looked surprised, but the woman they were fighting looked scared.

Iceman smiled at the White Queen. "Miss me, sweetheart?"

"Oh, no..."

A battle royal began.

Back in the ring, Bishamon turned around to deal with that annoying Time Killer. He heard a buzzing as he turned, as Rancid swept his chainsaw down and across, cutting off Bishamon's right arm.

"Now, Bish, my man, this is going to end! Starting with you, I'm going to tear everyone in this ring apart-"

"You will pay for that." Bishamon's arm floated up from the mat, to reattach itself to his shoulder. "Darkstalkers are harder to dismember than most, fool."

"Mommy!"

Frantically, Rancid hacked at the samurai, but Bishamon's Reversal Slash dealt with him. Rancid was knocked across the ring, landing in front of Gokuu.

"Well, hello, there..." Gokuu said, looking down at the Time Killer. To Gokuu's eyes, he had 'Easy Elimination' tattooed on his forehead.

"Hello, yourself," Rancid said, slashing at Gokuu's gut. The World Hero reeled back. Rancid jumped up and kicked him in the face, then sliced off his right arm. Gokuu screamed in agony, then kicked Rancid in the jaw. The Time Killer reeled back, then came at him again, removing Gokuu's left arm. Finally, as an act of mercy (for himself, not Gokuu - the man's screams could curl wallpaper), he swung again, and decapitated him. The pieces of the World Hero went over the side and through the field.

The pieces landed in a neat pile in the courtyard of Shang Tsung's castle, from the original MK. Not much else happened.

Some of the crowd booed. Others howled. The Time Killers were going nuts. Rancid had done it again! He had beaten the odds! He had...been Sword Snapped over the side by Bishamon. The Darkstalker, for one, shining moment, looked at peace.

Rancid landed in Extreme Games. He severely complicated the street luge competition.

* * *

**Eliminated Seating**

Ryo's people were conferring apart from Shao Kahn and his minions.

"So, the bloodsucker's moved, and left Rugal with a few party favors for us."

"You have a way of cutting right to the heart of a matter, Stryker."

"Sue me, Wulong."

Charlie looked relieved. "So, that's at least one boss we won't have to deal with. Sounds good to me-we can just cut straight up through the hotel to Demitri's room."

Ryo nodded. "Should we attack Rugal?"

Charlie shook his head. "Ordinarily, I'd say yes, but our main goal is to make sure Demitri can't sacrifice Haohmaru, not-" he swallowed, "-to survive afterwards." They were all quiet for a moment after that. "Whether we have someone behind us or not isn't important, so long as we can do that."

"Good. Let's get to work."

Robert punched his fist. "What are we waiting-"

Shao Kahn roared, "**WHAT ARE WE WAITING FOR, MORTALS?! I HUNGER FOR THE VAMPIRE'S SOUL!**" Stomping over to the group, Shang Tsung and Kano behind him, he stood directly in front of Ryo. Somehow, he'd managed to acquire Sindel, Mileena, and Baraka, who stood with him as well.

Ryo looked up at the God of the Outworld, who fairly shook with rage and hatred. Ryo didn't know what Demitri had done to Kahn, but it must have been bad...it almost made him feel sorry for having to do this.

"Kahn, you take point."

"**I WILL CRUSH HIM...**" In another being, it would have been accurate to say that Kahn had blinked. "**WHAT?**"

"You heard me. Move out and hit Demitri first. He's in room 245 of the hotel... we'll back you up as soon as we know for sure what he's doing." Ryo fought to suppress a grin.

"**I SHALL DO SO IMMEDIATELY. HURRY, MORTALS. I DO NOT INTEND TO LEAVE MUCH OF THE VAMPIRE INTACT FOR YOU TO GROVEL IN FRONT OF. COME! WE GO TO WAR!**" He walked out of the seating with his forces behind him. As he walked out, he was heard to remark, "...**WEAK PATHETIC FOOLS**..."

Ryo started to laugh wildly. Charlie, Stryker, Lei, and Robert looked at him strangely.

Ryo wiped his eyes. "Well, that's Rugal taken care of, and Kahn in the bargain. Let's go."

* * *

**The Ring**

Kintaro uppercutted Kim Kaphwan out of his way, ignoring the rain of Kikokens, Tsubame Gaeshis, and Power Waves being directed at him. "Is no one going to prove a _challenge_ in this competition?!" he growled.

Behind him, King reached into her tuxedo jacket and pulled out a hip flask. Taking a small sip, she readied herself to fight the Shokan. She began to assume her fighting stance, then looked at Kintaro again. Shaking her head, she took another, longer, slug, grimaced, and whistled loudly.

Kintaro turned around, slowly, and received a Venom Strike full in the face.

He blinked, and breathed an enormous ball of flame at the bouncer, who sidestepped and dashed forward into the dreaded Tornado Kick. She threw herself into the air, her legs higher than her head, and Kintaro, as was expected, blocked. However, the Shokan was unable to block the second kick, as King spun around in midair. Neither did he block her subsequent Trap Shot, and her foot took him in the jaw. As King landed from that, she backed up, just out of the range of his forward punch.

"Do you honestly think that you can defeat the mighty Kintaro?"

"Well, yeah... DOUBLE STRIKE!"

"Your puny techniques will prove useless-"

"YA!" SMACK!

"That's **it**!" Kintaro leaped into the sky. King jumped backward, but the plummeting Shokan came neatly down on her in mid-air. As she hit, the creature stomped once, twice, then jumped off. King struggled to her feet.

"A good fight, woman, but I will prove superior!" Kintaro roared his power and majesty to the sky.

"Now," King muttered, and charged him. The Shokan's guard was completely down.

He felt every bit of the Illusion Dance.

The last kick launched Kintaro into the air.

"HIT HIM!" Guy screamed, slamming the airborne Mortal Kombatant with a Rising Spin Kick. Ukyo jumped up into a Swoop Swallow Slice, which smacked him at the same time as Terry Bogard's second Power Geyser of the round.

Jeffry, looking up, simply drew in a deep breath and threw a thunderous uppercut, slamming Kintaro up again.

Looking up from her fight with Bishamon, Nakoruru quickly kicked the samurai away. "I have him!" she yelled. "LEYLA MISTUBE!" Rising into the air, she slashed Kintaro deeply.

Guy yelled, "Chun Li!"

"Got him!" She intercepted him before he could fall back to the mat completely with a Level 1 Super Kikoken. Kintaro bounced back into the air.

Finally, King had been dashing across the ring after him, and she leapt up.

Accompanied by the roars of the crowd, she connected with a kick in mid-air that eliminated Kintaro.

Birdman and Wanderer, in the announcer's booth, were goggle-eyed.

"That was the most incredible thing I've ever seen," Wanderer whispered. He couldn't have looked away on a bet.

Birdman glanced at the ratings screen, and his eyes hit the DimensionCam. "That's the second most incredible thing I've ever seen," he said, pointing. "Look."

Kintaro had landed in X-Men Vs. Street Fighter. In a burst of complete, awe-inspiring rage, he was absolutely massacring Apocalypse. En Sabah Nur was being crushed, punched, and blasted to within an inch of his immortal life.

Gambit and Cammy stood on the roof of a nearby building.

"Were we going to do somet'ing about dis, chere?"

"Hadn't planned on it, luv."

The Multiverse was watching that battle of modern titans so intently that no one noticed Jeffry sneaking up behind a reeling Kim. The Tae Kwon Do fighter was almost unconscious after being beaten by Kintaro. All he knew was that he had to stay in...this time, he had brought his children to the Rumble, and they were watching him fight from the skybox seats. A shadow fell across him, and he turned to see Jeffry, his hands extended like he was going to grab Kim.

"What do you want?"

Jeffry's brain must have malfunctioned at this point, for that's the only thing that would explain his answer: "Um, to eliminate you, I guess."

Kim answered him with the last of his energy, expressed in his Houohkyaku - also known to his fans as the Phoenix Flattener - directly to Jeffry's face. Kick after kick landed on the Virtua Fighter, delivered by one of the greatest fighters in the Multiverse. The punishment finally ended by way of a flipping kick directly to his chin, just as the audience's attention returned to the Rumble. Jeffry exited the ring, passing through the dimensional field.

Jeffry landed in an abandoned church. Cy-5 and Warhead looked at him. "What mortal interrupts our combat?" Warhead asked menacingly.

"Good lord... War Gods..." Birdman whispered. The ratings had declined already.

Jeffry, moderately upset about being eliminated, simply attacked them both.

"Ouch. Jeffry's piledriving Warhead into the ground... now he's got Cy-5 in a headlock... man, that had to hurt! The War Gods are being taken apart!" Wanderer looked at Birdman. "Why do you look so depressed?"

Birdman looked back at the ratings screen. They were climbing steadily. "Nothing, man. Nothing at all."

Kim had collapsed from that effort, utterly spent. Nakoruru, having just sicced Mamahaha on Bishamon, looked down at the unconscious Fighting King, and picked him up.

"Don't be upset," she said. "This is for your own good." She then tossed him gently out of the ring and turned back to the fight.

Suddenly, she turned back. "Where do I know you from, anyway? Oh, well..."

Kim landed in Little Nemo's Slumberland, smack dab in Little Nemo's empty bed. Oblivious, he slept on.

In the ring, Guy was having a whispered conversation with Terry Bogard.

"So, that's the story. What do you say?"

"I'm in. How could I not be?"

"Good. Listen, we need people-"

An apple fell between them.

Guy's eyes bugged out, and he threw himself backward. The apple split into quarters, as Terry was knocked out of the ring.

He found himself in NBA Jam. Someone threw him a basketball.

Terry grinned, and turned his hat backwards. "Let's go."

Scottie Pippen laughed. "Man, white men can't..."

"POWER...DUNK!" The backboard shattered to powder.

"...never mind."

Back in the ring, Guy was pissed. "Ukyo, what was that all about?"

The Shodowner shrugged. "...so... you... get to eliminate... all of the (cough) people we... need on the... outside...? That's...not (hack) fair..."

"Point taken."

* * *

_Original Authors_

Chris "Birdman" Bird  
Thomas "Wanderer" Wilde


	26. Section 13

**Section Thirteen**

**The Ring**

The six fighters left in the ring were all now cognizant of the Haohmaru situation.

Chun Li looked frightened, and, for some reason, was frequently casting small glances at Ryu, sitting in the stands. King had a determined set to her mouth. Bishamon was leaning on his sword (which was complaining bitterly about being used for such a purpose), explaining all he knew. Nakoruru was trembling with rage at the abuse of Nature, and clutched her knife with hands that had gone white-knuckled. Guy and Ukyo were simply trying to catch their breath.

They all knew that as soon as someone won the Rumble, the threat would be past. But, being who and what they were, they would not simply allow someone to win. They would fight to the end.

All six cast their eyes to the entryway for new fighters as Birdman's mike clicked on.

* * *

**"BIRDIE!"** (SFA)

"I don t like you/I just hate you/I'm gonna kick your ass!" Hard-core crappy music from Guns 'N' Roses blared.

The final Alpha Streeter strode down to the ring, his mohawk combed and gleaming. "I can do this! I can beat everybody! Then Bison will be so proud of me, he might let me join Shadoloo!"

"Drooling yahoo," Ken muttered.

"Bloody asskisser." Sodom grimaced.

* * *

**"JACK!"** (WHP)

"Nyah ha ha ha!" Jack made his way down to the ring.

Birdman activated the mike. "For obvious reasons, could the people in Rows Five through Seven Hundred and Three please stop calling Mr. Jack a 'Vega ripoff?' Thank you."

Chun Li looked at the World Hero blankly. "Who's Vega?"

* * *

**"KYOSHIRO!"** (SS2)

Traditional Japanese music began playing throughout the RumbleDome.

"Behold, the art of my blade!" Kyoshiro ran towards the ring as best he could, hopping on one foot as he was.

Wanderer looked at the Kabuki dancer with an incredulous expression on his face. "I still can't believe that guy's from the same node as Haohmaru and Ukyo."

* * *

**"CHOI BOUNGE!"** (KOF95)

"I'm your boogey man/that's what I am/I'm here to do, ah/whatever I can...early morning/late afternoon/after midnight/it's never too soon..." Choi Bounge's entry music, White Zombie's version of "I m Your Boogeyman," as usual, had half its listeners headbanging and half of them wondering how the hell White Zombie had come to cover a KC and the Sunshine Band song.

As he headed towards Demitri's room, Gen-An caught a glimpse of the proceedings outside on a handy video monitor.

A few minutes later, a passing security officer caught a glimpse of a small, green hunchback curled into the fetal position on the floor, crying to himself. "No...that guy's at the Rumble...he followed me back from that node...I'm as good as dead..."

The officer was mystified.

Choi was just glad he'd gotten this late of a draw. Now, he wouldn't be lying 100% to Kim when he said that he'd had nothing to do with this whole business with Haohmaru...

* * *

**The Stairs**

Ryo's group had decided that using the elevators would be a bad tactical decision.

"What floor are we on?" Heavy D! asked.

"Mmmmm...the sixtieth," Robert replied.

Dan groaned. "Let me know when we get to the hundred and fortieth. I'm gonna throw up."

**Room 245**

Rugal was incredibly aggravated.

Earthquake and Saishu Kusanagi had shown up, and Magneto was said to be on his way, but still, he had the most incompetent people in the world, no, the entire bloody _multiverse_ working for him right now.

Now, however, he had three less of the most incompetent people in the world working for him. The Fulgore unit had just _left_, when he wasn't looking, and Baek and Combo were lying on the other side of the room, bloody and broken. The rest of his force were huddled in the corners of the room (except Chang and Colossus), hoping that he wasn't all that pissed.

"When will I finally get some decent help...?" he inquired of the world at large.

The door opened, as if an answer to his prayers.

Orchid walked into the room. "I was told I was supposed to come here?"

Rugal slapped himself in the forehead. "Yes, come in." Another bloody Killer Instinctive...

As Orchid walked in, though, she was suddenly hit by something hard enough to make her ricochet off of the doorjamb. There was a flash of crimson light as she was disintegrated.

Suddenly, the front door of Room 245 of the RumbleDome Hotel no longer existed. There was instead a large rent in it, now occupied by a _very_ upset Shao Kahn and several of his Centaurian warriors, backed up by Motaro, Sindel, Shang Tsung, Kano (his cybernetic eye smoking), Mileena, and Baraka. Also, however, unexpectedly, others had joined the Kahn. Scorpion, Ermac, Reptile, Jade, Rain, and Noob Saibot all stood with the Kahn, for money, power, or other motivations (such as the head of Sub-Zero I on a platter).

"**WHERE IS THE VAMPIRE DEMITRI MAXIMOV?!**" the dark god bellowed at nearly Haohmaru-level volume.

In the next room, a figure stirred as a result. His sword struck the floor with a harsh clang that no one heard...the wires that had bound it to his wrists had been bent slightly by Dan Hibiki, enough to allow him to free himself. Then, he heard what Rugal said to answer Kahn.

"He's in the upper floors of the hotel, Kahn, sacrificing Haohmaru." Rugal sneered, flexing out of his shirt. "Where you won't live to reach. GET HIM! SHINE!" He then ran at the Kahn, his hands glowing, and grabbed him around the throat. He picked Kahn up and slammed him against the outside wall, consequently triggering the release of a column of power, complete with skull image. Kahn was knocked to the floor by the sheer force of it.

Not to be outdone, Kahn recovered and slammed Rugal with his hammer, dizzying him. Kahn then followed up with a devastating shoulderslam.

Behind the two of them, Riptor, Chief Thunder, Glacius, Cinder, Sabrewulf, Eyedol, Kuma, Jack-2, Paul Phoenix, Colossus, Chang Koehan, Saishu Kusanagi, and Earthquake rushed to attack the assembled Mortal Kombatants, who responded in kind.

Unnoticed by the brawlers, though, a single figure ran out of the room.

Genjuro was not going to let anyone kill Haohmaru. Except him.

* * *

**The Ring**

**"JULIUS CARN!"** (WHP)

The World Hero strode down to the ring, offending women in the audience as he went. He was covered in thrown popcorn as he jumped in and Mongolian Dynamited Ukyo.

* * *

**"LARCEN!"** (EC: CftDS)

"Larcen?" Birdman whispered quietly. "Larcen?" he said again, looking at the clipboard. There were now two new names on it.

The Eternal Champion poked his head out from the door hesitantly, then, at the urging of Scott Johnson, came fully out and walked towards the ring. His trenchcoat was freshly pressed, and his suit was immaculate. He was ready to make up for his node's poor performance in the last Rumble.

Wanderer looked at him in surprise. "Hey! That's the guy from the nineteen-forties! I used to play as him! I didn't know he was in the Rumble..." Then he looked at Birdman.

Apparently, neither had Birdman. He was currently in the grips of something that looked, for all the world, like a serious attack of apoplexy. The clipboard had broken in two in his hands, and he was making low-pitched strangling sounds.

Moving quickly, Wanderer grabbed what was left of the clipboard and jammed it in his mouth so he wouldn't swallow his tongue, then hit the comm button.

"Yeah?" Brant's voice came over the speakers.

"This is Thomas... Birdman's having some kind of seizure!"

"Thomas? Oh, yeah, the new guy. Don't worry about it."

"'Don't **worry** about it?' He's turning blue!"

"Birdman does this every time we insert new fighters without telling him. It's about half an act. Just leave him alone...he always recovers in time to introduce the next fighter."

"Why are there more fighters? I thought you guys were capping it at 160..."

"Yeah, but the draws worked out so that there were only eight fighters in the last section. We figured that wasn't right, so we went trolling for fighters in the audience. All we have to do is put '162 Fighters!' stickers on the video box, and we're good to go."

"I'll tell him that. He's reverting to his natural skin color."

"Good. I have to go. You're doing good, kid."

"Thanks, man." Wanderer flipped off the switch, and when Birdman looked like he could handle it, told him what Brant had said. Pulling his chair back up to the console, Birdman looked unhappy, but said nothing.

* * *

**"CAPTAIN KIDD!"** (WHP)

All of the indignities that the women of the audience had suffered as a result of Carn were now repaid by the entrance of noted heartthrob Captain Kidd. As he jumped into the ring and sent a Shark Knuckle at Birdie, though, his mind wasn't on the fight. His mind was on one thing: Haohmaru. He had to win this thing quickly, or who knows what would happen...

* * *

**"KUROKO!"** (SS2)

The deadly judge entered into the ring, and was immediately knocked down by a badly aimed Double Strike.

"Ha! You are in violation of the Seventh Code of Muay Thai, which prohibits any kind of projectile in combat! Eliminate yourself immediately!" Kuroko said, leaping to his feet.

King, just to be sure she'd heard him right, Venom Struck him on purpose.

"You are being cowardly, and you force me to use deadly tactics!" Kuroko fireballed the bouncer. "For, according to Rule Seventeen of Shotokan Karate, any techniques are acceptable if they have been used against you in the five minutes prior!"

Ryu and Ken looked at each other. "Gouken never mentioned that..."

Wanderer groaned. "He's a rules lawyer..."

Birdman shrugged. "What do you want from a judge?"

Wanderer seemed to accept this. He went back to trying to figure out what Kyoshiro's deal was.

* * *

**"DHALSIM!"** (SFA2)

The yoga warrior levitated calmly down to the ring, his peaceful nature overcoming all around him. The fighters in the ring began to lower their weapons, or their fists, wondering why they had been making war. That was not the true way! Enlightenment would not be reached through violence...

Then, of course, Dhalsim had to spit a Yoga Flame, crisp Jack, and make a mess of the whole thing.

Birdman muttered, "At least it wasn't someone stupid. That's all I need, is a War God or something down there."

* * *

**Room 1891, RumbleDome Hotel**

Haohmaru was tied to a block of marble, his hands bound with several lengths of the finest chain that Demitri could find. Symbols and runes were drawn in fine oils all over the altar and the samurai. Those slaves Demitri had with him were busy sketching these intricate designs. The block was sitting at the center of a large circle, drawn in small runes with rare chalks and herbs. (It's amazing what room service at Multiversal hotels will bring these days.) As Demitri waited, he fingered a large knife.

"What are you waiting for, Demitri? You have him, you have Charlotte, so what's the problem?" Jon Talbain asked.

The vampire, lost in thought, was silent. He was reflecting back on his mortal existence, and his existence as an undead; he was thinking of all he was about to leave behind, and all he was about to gain. What price was there that he had not discovered? he wondered. He had not paid nearly enough. Something was hidden from him...

"You're scared, aren't you?"

"What, Jon?" Demitri turned around.

"You're scared." The werewolf was confident now. "You're scared that your little plan might be discovered. You're scared that this might not work. You're scared of the Dark Guy. Most of all, though, you're scared of what might happen when you sacrifice Haohmaru. That's why you haven t done it yet... fear." The werewolf smiled slowly, showing a great, great number of teeth.

Demitri whirled, and fired a Vampire Rage at the werewolf's cage. It fell over, Jon whimpering in pain. "Fool! I could have sacrificed this worm a thousand times by now if it weren't for this: I must wait for the proper alignment of the stars of this node, combined with the moment when someone else wins the Rumble! Only then will the power of the Oversoul be mine!"

_Or mine_, Morrigan thought, walking in. "Here are a few more fighters, Demitri." Ralf, Clark, Pai Chan, Sub-Zero, Joe Higashi, Fulgore, Cyrax, Brocken, Sektor, Smoke, and Dural were following her like puppies.

Jon squirmed. That had _hurt_, but Demitri had played right into his hands. The cage had already been falling apart from his weight, and the Rage had only weakened it further...

Demitri wasn't paying attention to Jon or Morrigan. There was someone else behind her. Mai Shiranui, limping, carrying an unconscious...

"YES!" The vampire teleported directly over to the Shiranui ninja, and grabbed her burden from her hands. "This will give me the edge I need!"

In his arms, Demitri Maximov held Yuri Sakazaki.

* * *

**The Ring**

Birdman suddenly realized something. "It's time."

Wanderer looked at him. "Time for what?"

"And now, ladies and gentlemen..." Birdman hit a button.

All the lights went out in the RumbleDome. The only illumination to be found was shining directly on the doors that new fighters came out of. Slowly, they opened of their own accord.

Slowly, the familiar beats of the Alan Parsons Project's "Eye in the Sky" started playing throughout the RumbleDome. The tension was thick enough to cut with a knife.

Birdman turned the reverb way up.

"...the final fighter in the Second Annual Video Rumble..."

A lone figure was cast in shadow as he ran down towards the ring as fast as he could.

* * *

**"JACKY BRYANT!"** (VF2)

The final Virtua Fighter entered the ring while it was still dark, and, in the silence before the audience went nuts, kicked Bishamon in the jaw.

When the lights turned back on, the samurai Snap Sworded Kyoshiro, who he thought had hit him. Jacky, meanwhile, was safely across the ring harassing Kuroko.

Jacky was many things.

But, he wasn't stupid.

* * *

**Hundred and Thirty-First Floor, RumbleDome Hotel**

Ryo led his group out of the stairwell. It only went this far up...they'd have to take another flight of stairs to reach Demitri's room.

Wolverine suddenly stopped. "This doesn't smell right."

Ryo held up a glowing hand, so none of the rest of them would keep going. "What does it smell like, then?"

Wolverine nodded to Storm, who proceeded to blow down the doors in the hall with her lightning bolts. After the third door, Ryo got her to stop.

"Why are you doing that? Do you _want_ them to know we re coming?"

Wolverine glared at him. "It's too late for that, kid."

Ryo glared back. "What do you mean?"

Storm suddenly blasted the last door in the hallway down. A moderately scorched Fuuma fell out of the now-vacant doorway. "*That* is what he means. We were walking into a trap!"

"Correction, mutant: you are **in** a trap!" Bison appeared in the hallway, laughing. Adon, Ryoko, Pyron, Blue Mary, Heihachi, Bob Wilson, Jubei Yagyu, Nina Williams, and Eiji Kisaragi burst out of doors up and down the hall, and rushed to attack.

WHO WILL LIVE?  
WHO WILL DIE?  
WHO IN THE HELL WILL WIN THE RUMBLE?

* * *

_Original Authors_

Chris "Birdman" Bird  
Thomas "Wanderer" Wilde


	27. Section 13 - Results

**Section Thirteen - Results**

**The Ring**

It was incredible to watch.

Everyone who was in the ring now knew that they were close to winning the entire Rumble, so close that they could taste it. No one took any chances at being eliminated now, fighting smartly and with expert timing. Very few solid hits were landed in the first few moments of the round, being blocked or avoided with the finesse of a master. Stray projectiles reflected off of the forcefield encircling the ring in a near-constant shower of multi-colored sparks. The fighters were absolutely silent, save for the occasional grunt of pain or effort, or the cry accompanying a special move (Kuroko being the notable exception). The crowd roared, a constant rushing hum. Wanderer was agape. Birdman, being Birdman, was counting the money this was making him. The assembled warriors were giving it everything they had, proving why they were among the best fighters in the Multiverse.

Ukyo Tachibana was dealing, simultaneously, with both an attack of his tuberculosis and Jack, who wasn't above exploiting the samurai's brief periods of vulnerability. In short, Ukyo was in trouble. Seeing this, Nakoruru hurriedly slashed Birdie away from her and Annu Mistube'd Jack, but the damage had been done. Ukyo was badly hurt. As Nakoruru stood there and inspected his wounds, Birdie hooked her up in his chain, slammed her into the ground, and bounced her across the ring, knocking both King and J. Carn sprawling.

As King got up, she shrugged a barely conscious Nakoruru off of her and started to throw Carn out of the ring-

Suddenly, a Shark Knuckle struck her in the back, making her drop the World Hero.

"Sorry, lass, but I can't let you do that. Internodal honor, and all." Kidd cracked his knuckles.

King turned a Samurai-worthy shade of red, and kicked Kidd in the jaw. The pirate fell over.

As Nakoruru recovered, Carn began to harrass her, starting with a punch in the head. Not really having the patience for him, Nakoruru blocked and countered with a slash to the stomach, sending Carn tumbling backward. She then sicced a fiery Mamahaha on him, and ran over to defend Ukyo.

Carn stood up and stuck out his chest. "Oh, come on, little girl. I conquered Eurasia - do you honestly think a _bird_ can stop me-" Mamahaha dove at him, clawing and tearing. "OWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOW!" Carn ran away, Mamahaha hot (no pun intended) on his heels.

Surprisingly enough, Kuroko and Dhalsim were fairly evenly matched, the main reason for this being the discovery that the Yoga Flame canceled HaohShohKohkens. Kuroko, displeased with this, was berating the Yoga warrior. "That is against so many rules, it ought to be a rule in and of itself! _No_ attack can cancel a HaohShohKohken, as dictated by the seventh rule of Kyokugenryu, which is the whole reason for the existence of that school! It's a rank impossibility! It's WHAM!"

Even Dhalsim's nearly inexhaustible patience was gone. He had kicked Kuroko in the teeth from fifteen feet away. This, unfortunately, sparked another tirade on rules, as well as a large number of well-aimed missiles.

Jacky Bryant was continuing his tactics of harrassment, "helping" Bishamon beat the holy hell out of Kyoshiro. The Kabuki fighter looked, by now, very bad indeed, until he hopped back and pelted both fighters with thrown fans and quick naginata slashes. Bishamon, wearing armor and carrying a sword, was fully capable of dealing with this (although he was still getting burned). Jacky, with neither, was not, and soon was sporting a number of nasty wounds.

Guy and Chun Li were back to back, fending off the lightning-quick advances of Choi Bounge and Larcen. Choi knew better than to close in on either fighter, and was relying on his rolls and hurricane attacks. Larcen, on the other hand, was simply swinging his grappling hook at the two Alpha Streeters. Individually, neither would have done much good, but as a pair, they were doing more damage than either Chun Li or Guy would have liked. In a voice strained by effort, Chun Li asked, "How do we know they haven't already sacrificed Haohmaru?"

"Because if they had, we'd be dead right now." Guy was covered in a patchwork of bruises, and his skin was flushed and red from more than an hour of hard combat. His eyes, however, blazed with intensity. While he talked, Larcen took the opportunity to close in on Guy from behind. At the last second, Guy whirled around, jumped up, and Izuna Dropped the hell out of him.

Chun Li swallowed hard, and looked at Ryu in the stands, who was meditating with Liu Kang.

Chun looked back at the oncoming Choi Bounge, and her eyes hardened.

The little ex-criminal suddenly understood that he was in _deep _trouble, and ran away. He did not, however, outrun the first of many Kikokens aimed at him.

Guy watched this with some small degree of amusement, wiping his forehead off with what was left of his gi. This was getting ridiculous. Everyone was evenly matched. To break the deadlock, they would need something spectacular...

* * *

**Room 1891, RumbleDome Hotel**

Demitri crooned ancient words of power, holding the knife over Haohmaru. His face was calm. His eyes were frantic. The unfamiliar syllables came to his mouth easily; with each he spoke, his aura became slightly larger, as a minute fraction of the power within Haohmaru was transferred to him.

Morrigan watched Demitri's ritual with a kind of detached calm. She realized now that she had been a fool. Demitri had been a plotter and schemer as long as she'd known of him, but never for one on this scale...the fool was actually about to become more powerful than any of them had ever dreamed. This had just seemed like an opportunity for some slaves and some fun at first, but now, it was getting serious.

With a grimace, Morrigan realized she'd have to do something to stop this. Fortunately, she had one tool left that Demitri hadn't taken for his own...

* * *

**Eliminated Seating**

Kung Lao, Iceman, and Jeffry McWild ran into the seating as fast as they could.

Quickly, Kung Lao grabbed Liu Kang. "We've got a job to do! Come on!"

Kang stood up, and Ryu, who had been sitting next to him, did as well. "What seems to be the problem, brother?" Liu asked, his voice mild.

"I'll explain on the way. It's bad. Very bad."

"Then I shall come with you," Ryu said, tightening his headband. It sounded like an opportunity to fight, after all.

Privately, Kung wondered if the headband was perhaps a little *too* tight. "Good. All the help we can get, and all that. Come on!"

"You need help?" Galford perked up, as he usually did, at the mention of the word. "I'll come along. Here, Poppy!"

"Woof!"

"Fine, fine, whatever. Let's go!"

The six of them ran towards the stairs.

* * *

**Hundred and Thirty-First Floor, RumbleDome Hotel**

"**BISON!**" Charlie yelled, running at the dictator as fast as he could. Bob Wilson made the mistake of trying to get in his way, and was promptly kicked in the stomach. Bison smiled softly and teleported away from the enraged soldier, leaving him to deal with a _very_ sore Bob and Heihachi.

Dan was right behind Charlie, but found himself facing Eiji Kisaragi. Having beaten Dan once, Eiji was confident that he could do it a second time. His initial flying kick hit Dan in the jaw, and as Eiji landed, he threw an easily blocked overhead punch. As Dan lunged forward to counterattack, Eiji, smiling knowingly under his mask, crossed his arms and summoned his crescent shield.

Dan stopped dead. It had been a feint. Eiji was forced to sit there, watching Dan gather his strength, while his shield wore down and eventually disappeared. Eiji uncrossed his arms and hurriedly backpedaled, but it did no good.

"HISSHOU MURAIKEN!" Eiji was struck with a strangely familiar volley of kicks and punches, ending with a Shining Dragon Punch, that laid the ninja out.

Robert Garcia, fighting Blue Mary, HaohShoKohkened her and said to Dan, "I got two words for you, man: copyright infringement."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

Blue Mary ran at Robert, her taser out.

"RYUUKO RANBU!" Robert slammed the Fatal Furite with a devastating (and similar) combination, ending with a powerful uppercut. Blue Mary fell back down, this time for good.

"Oh." Dan actually looked ashamed.

"Don't worry about it, man." Robert clapped Dan on the back. "We gotta stick together, since we got the same face and all UGH!" Robert clapped both hands over his crotch and fell over, retching. Nina Williams stood up from her crouch and booted him in the face, laughing.

"I'm sorry, did that sting a little? Here, let me make it _all_ better-"

WHOOM! A grenade detonated at her feet, knocking her unconscious.

"You just don't _do_ that, lady." Stryker grimaced. He and Dan quickly dragged the blue-faced Robert back.

Seeing an enemy in a moment of vulnerability, Pyron flew over the rest of the battle, and directed a fiery blast at the incapacitated Robert. However, it was hit, and cancelled, by a Typhoon from Storm. As one, Donovan (of course), Wolverine, and Matrix leaped on the alien, slashing and stabbing.

Pyron would have none of it. "COSMO DISRUPTION!" Fiery bursts flew like rain, cooking Wolverine and slapping the blocking Donovan and Matrix away. Pyron then continued on his mission to incinerate Robert, literally smoking with rage. The sheer heat of its anger triggered the Dome's sprinkler system, filling the hallway with a fine mist. Dan and Stryker, who were standing over Robert, looked at the oncoming Pyron, looked at each other, shrugged, shook hands, and assumed their fighting stances. Both of them wore the grimaces of someone who knows he's about to die.

"Prepare yourselves, mortals-" Pyron glowed, warming up for his Zodiac Fire. Suddenly, he was grabbed from behind.

King, in the greatest feat of strength of his life, quickly suplexed the alien to the ground, howling as his hands all but ignited from the heat.

Meanwhile, Jubei Yagyu was carving up Kim Dragon, who was bitterly regretting his choice in fighting attire ("Bare chest and silk pants, Kim? Sounds good! WHAT THE HELL WAS I THINKING?!") as he tried to guard himself from Jubei's katana and wakizashi. It wasn't working. He'd Dragon Kicked Jubei twice, but it hadn't done much more than slow him down.

Sie Kensou saw this, and blasted Ryoko out of his way. "I'm coming, Kim! Hold on-" Jubei heard the young psychic coming, and whirled on him, immediately executing the Hasso Happa. Sie ran right into it. After what seemed like an eternity of being slashed, pierced, and shredded, Sie fell over, unconscious... or worse.

Kim was barely on his feet, holding his slashed side and unable to do anything but watch. Jubei then turned back to him, Sie's blood dripping off of his blades, and raised them to do the same to Kim.

Suddenly, a wide blue beam of energy washed over the samurai, encasing him in a thick layer of arctic ice. Kim nearly fell over with relief as he looked towards the beam's source; Sasquatch gave him a thumbs-up and a big shaggy grin.

Ryoko shook off the effects of Sie's attack, and jumped in at the distracted bigfoot. (It looked kind of cute. She _hated_ cute.) However, in mid-air, Storm intercepted her with a Typhoon (as was her wont), throwing the "judo queen" up. While she was falling, Jago/Doom slammed into her side with a Wind Kick, the precursor to a 10-hit combo. She fell down, near where Ryo was standing.

Jago sniffed. "Inadequate."

Ryo wasn't sure about himself. The enchantments were still messing with his equilibrium, so he fell back and let the others handle this fight. However, as Ryoko got up, she gave him the Hand of God.

This made Ryo blink.

The series of quick punches and slaps she then threw at him did little more than tingle as they touched his skin. He watched her, like it was a movie, as she flung every attack in her arsenal at him, eventually standing still, exhausted. Ryo didn't even feel bruised.

Absently, he Kohoed her in the jaw-

-and hit eight times, knocking her to the end of the hallway, a hundred and twenty feet away.

Ryo looked at his fist in wonder. "What did they **do** to me?!"

Adon was doing well for himself. With a confident grin, he struck the already-groggy Wolverine with a Jaguar Tooth. Wolverine, not really thinking straight, Tornado Clawed Adon, but fell victim to an Alpha Counter Jaguar Knee in return. Adon finished the X-Man off with a Level 2 Jaguar Revolver Super Combo. Adon chortled, looked around, and, seeing Donovan Bane, immediately ran at him and kicked the hunter in the face. Donovan fell backward.

"Ha, ha, haa! I'm the BEST Muay Thai-"

"Don't even _start_ with that crap again..." There was a low-pitched hum from behind him.

"Uh-oh." Adon was in mid-turn when Matrix severed his arms. Unfortunately for her, she had forgotten that Adon was a _kick_boxer, so she was still at somewhat of a disadvantage. That is, she was, until a large shadow fell over Adon from behind.

To make a long story short:

WHAM! WHAM! WHAM! (**zorch**) SLICE! HACK! STOMP! CRASH! THUD!

Donovan shook Matrix's hand. "Thanks."

"Don't mention it."

Adon groaned in pain, and Donovan kicked him again.

Charlie had utterly overpowered Heihachi. Ordinarily, it wouldn't have been as much of a mismatch, but Charlie's determination to get past the Tekkeneer and do a wide variety of incredibly unpleasant things to Bison (technically, he _was_ resisting arrest) was heavily influencing the fight. Also, Yoshimitsu had done him a favor by engaging Bob Wilson, a fight which the robot was handling fairly well. Finally, Charlie knocked Heihachi completely out with a backhand punch to the neck and continued down the hallway, writing Bison's name in his little book as he went.

He jumped up and out of the way as Bison flew out in his Psycho Crusher, and immediately countered with a Flash Kick, knocking Bison to the ground. "You have the right to remain silent-" Bison threw a Psycho Shot at him, laughing madly. "Oh, never mind..." Charlie tossed a Sonic Boom to cancel the Shot, and closed in for the dirty work.

Pyron, meanwhile, was dealing with King the way he dealt with everyone; namely, through the politics of incineration. Heavy D! and Rikuo were both attempting to distract it, but Pyron, berserk as it was, was ignoring them both in favor of attacking King. Finally, though, Pyron caught him dead-on with a Fiery Planets, burning King almost beyond recognition. The alien spun in for the kill...

...and Heavy D! smoothly stepped in front of it, fully charged up. He was pretty sure that nothing but his best attack would affect Pyron...

D! drew back his fist, and drove it forward with all the strength he had to offer. The D!-Crazy struck Pyron neatly in the forehead. It staggered back, dazed.

Rikuo quickly struck the reeling alien with a Sea Rage, summoning thousands of gallons of water and throwing them at it in a series of crushing waves. The hallway was (further) soaked, the unconscious fighters being picked up in the current and carried down the hallway. Pyron was surrounded by a great cloud of steam, its fire slowly being diminished.

Pyron staggered forward, hissing as its fire tried to reestablish itself, right into Lei Wulong's back.

This was a bad place to be.

Lei, feeling way out of his league, slammed the alien with a series of kicks. His shoes charred black and began to flake off, but he kept it up, whiplashing Pyron back and into the wall. Pyron, being Pyron, immediately burned through the plaster and flew headlong into Room 1324.

Lei tried to pick King up under his arms, but the wrestler was too heavy. "Tell me, man, exactly what the hell were you thinking?"

King was barely conscious. "...have... to atone... for... helping... evil..."

Pyron's voice was a dull, enraged thunder. "Then you can do it in person, before your gods, worm..." Both Tekkeneers looked up to see the alien stalking, slowly and seeming to relish every step, back through the hole that he had made in the wall. Pyron, without further preamble, threw an enormous torrent of flame at them, the walls buckling from the sheer heat of it.

"No."

A sheet of purple flame burst up in front of Lei and King, wrapping itself around Pyron's burst like a rug. It began to shrink into a ball, the yellow fighting to survive underneath the purple. Finally, both the purple and the yellow flames vanished. Lei breathed a sigh of relief.

"WHO DARES?!" Pyron roared, looking around for the fire's source.

"I'm shocked you have to ask." He was struck by a torrent of the same crackling violet force, making him stagger back. Its controller, Kyo Kusanagi, stood down the hallway, his hands wreathed in flame.

Pyron, roaring with rage, flung a meteor at Kyo, but it was almost carelessly sidestepped. Casually, Kyo crossed the distance between them and hit Pyron in the "face" with a Twilight Ride, followed by more fire. However, this time, Pyron's aura flared white-hot, overwhelming Kyo's fire. Kyo's reaction, naturally, was to summon more of it. Pyron countered with yet more of his own, and the cycle continued to escalate.

Soon, the pair of fighters were glowing like secondhand suns, and their forms were obscured by a heat mirage. The walls began to char black near where they were standing, and the sprinkler system began to dump even more water into the hallway to compensate. (Somewhere in the RumbleDome, Tristan slapped himself in the forehead as every shower in the hotel lost water pressure, prompting a barrage of irritated phone calls from many of the guests.) The ice statue imprisoning Jubei Yagyu evaporated quickly, barely making the transition from solid to liquid at all, and the samurai fell to the floor unconscious.

This had dramatic effects upon the rest of the fighters. Specifically, it _seriously_ screwed with Rikuo, who dehydrated quickly. Lei and King, who had been unfortunate enough to be standing right next to the "flame war," also soon fell victim to heatstroke. All three of them soon passed out. The rest of the fighters stopped what they were doing to stare at the spectacle (even Charlie and Bison), and, after a while, began to try and do something about it. Sasquatch, Storm, and Donovan began throwing cold attacks at the inferno, doing little good besides making things a little more comfortable in the hallway.

After what seemed like an eternity, the mirage faded. Kyo, his uniform scorched black, stood over the unconscious body of Pyron. The Source still crackled in his hands. Weakly, he said to the alien, "...heh, heh... moetarou..."

The assembled fighters looked around in shock, to see who was standing. When Yoshimitsu remembered that Bob was standing right next to it, the robot made some kind of "Oh," noise and punched him in the face, knocking him out.

Ryo looked around the hallway. "I believe that just leaves you, Bison."

The Shadoloo dictator drew himself up. "I can take a few of you with me. Not all of you will be reaching the Master's chambers alive."

"'The Master?'" Charlie wondered aloud.

"I don't really have time for this, Bison." Power began absently collecting in Ryo's hands, by reflex. What looked like ball lightning circled his arms. He began a familiar motion, and Robert's eyes widened when he recognized it. "SHINKUU..."

"CHARLIE...**MOVE**!" Robert yelled, in a slightly higher voice than normal.

Charlie quickly jumped out of the way, behind Ryo. Bison began to jump as well, but a crossfire of projectiles confined him to the ground.

Ryo thrust his hands forward, his mouth open, hair standing on end. Static electricity filled the air and congregated in his hands, then projected outwards. It was an old trick, but on a far, far greater scale.

"...**HAOHSHOKOHKEN!**"

Bison blocked, of course. This did next to no good. The blast of force that Ryo unleashed at him was as irresistible as a tidal wave. The Shadoloo dictator was caught up in the initial part of the burst and thrown into the end of the hall, through the window. The rest of the Shinkuu HaohShoKohKen caught up with him a moment later, blowing out most of the rest of the side of the hotel with a sound like a bomb. Bison abruptly found himself with a thousand feet between himself and the ground.

As a last-ditch effort, he teleported, trying to at least fall into the ring so the forcefields would catch him. Granted, Guy and Chun Li were in there, but one thing at a time.

Unfortunately, he undershot his goal, and fell cleanly through the dimensional field.

He hit hard, although the internodal passage dampened some of the inertia. Looking up, he saw that he was lying on airport tarmac, and he smelled oil and exhaust...

"Hello, butcher."

Bison sat painfully up to face Guile. And he knew the next fifteen minutes were going to hurt.

* * *

**The Ring**

"Do I even _want_ to know, Brant?" Birdman's voice was flat.

"Probably not." Brant was chortling helplessly. "He was probably just... um, uh, practicing the Psycho Crusher, or something."

"You enjoyed that a little too much, man," Wanderer observed. He was trying very hard to keep his voice absolutely neutral.

"I have to have my fun _somewhere_..."

The entirety of the RumbleDome had turned to watch Bison doing his swan dive from the upper floors of the hotel, including most of the people in the ring. Guy, after smiling for a good three seconds when he realized who was falling, looked around, and he caught sight of...

"Gotcha." Guy ran across the ring, jumped up, and grabbed Kyoshiro neatly out from underneath Bishamon's nose, catching him in a somersault backbreaker. The now-stunned Kyoshiro was easy to throw out of the ring.

Kyoshiro landed in Jackal. Fortunately, one of the POWs threw him onto the jeep before anything really *bad* could happen. (Of course, the jeep was blown up about three minutes later, but it's the thought that counts.)

Guy pumped his fist. "YES!" He was starting to get his second wind.

The audience went nuts, screaming and throwing their beverages in the air. This coincided roughly with Birdie's delivery of a Headbutt Rush to Bishamon's chin. The spirit fell back, already groggy from getting cut up by Kyoshiro.

Birdie looked around, and lifted his arms, basking in the praise from the audience. "I'M NUMBER ONE!" he yelled, exultantly, little knowing that saying that was a death sentence in the Rumble.

"Keep dreaming, pal." The sword's tone was dry as it drove into Birdie's chest.

"Egotistical wretch, ain't he?" the armor observed, as Bishamon came rushing across the space between him and Birdie, grabbing his sword and cutting Birdie neatly in half.

"Not unlike you, I'd say," one of the flames chimed in. Birdie collapsed to the mat.

"HEY! Are you going to let him talk like that to me, Bish?"

"Yes. And shut up." Bishamon threw the pieces o' Birdie over the side. They landed in RAX's stage from Eternal Champions, where a small cleaning droid neatly whisked them away.

Nakoruru was beginning to get tired, between dealing with both Jack and J. Carn at the same time. Finally, she completely lost it, and slashed them both with a Leyla Mistube, giving her room to maneuver.

"I don't know why you fight," she began, "and I don't care. But you're trying to attack a man incapable of defending himself, and that's inexcusable! You may have gotten away with such things in your own node, but you're here now, and YOU *WON'T* GET AWAY WITH IT WHILE I'M AROUND! APEFUSHI KAMUI RYFUSE!"

Both World Heroes were struck by a flurry of cape slashes, followed by a _very_ angry Mamahaha, trailing shadows behind it. Jack was almost knocked over the side, and only saved himself by dragging his claws along the mat. Carn wasn't as badly off, but landed perilously close to the last person he wanted to see.

"Miss me, beefcake?" King said, smiling sweetly.

Carn struggled to his feet. "Aw, gimme me a break, babe..."

Her eyes narrowed. King immediately kneed him in the groin. The entire male population of the RumbleDome grimaced sympathetically. While he was retching, King knocked Carn over the "ropes" with a Trap Shot.

Carn landed in Romance of the Three Kingdoms, on the main street of a small village. He couldn't figure out why the villagers were running away from him, until a massive army of men on horseback rode up, captained by none other than Genghis Khan himself.

"You **DARE** take my appearance as your own?!" Genghis roared, drawing his sword.

J. Carn swallowed hard, and ran like hell. Seven hundred men on horseback rode after him.

Meanwhile, Choi Bounge was _still_ running away from Chun Li. He was out of breath and sweating like a faucet. Jack watched unsteadily as Choi ran by, yelling for help in that annoying high-pitched voice of his. Shaking his head, Jack took a step forward, then another. He smiled, and flexed his claws. Now, that knife-wielding little bitch and him were going to have some words...

Jack then looked to his left.

Without slowing down in her pursuit of Choi, Chun Li split-kicked Jack out of her way and out of the ring. She landed, still running, and yelled "Sorry!" over her shoulder.

Jack found himself in Donkey Kong. He was immediately flattened by a hammer-wielding Mario.

Choi, at a _very_ high rate of speed, was now running by the Kuroko-Dhalsim battle, which had now degraded to more of a verbal than a physical brawl. The two of them were arguing ethics.

"But if the man _knows_ it is wrong to steal, for whatever reason, then it is wrong, and he should be punished to the full extent of the law!" Kuroko maintained, his voice rising melodramatically.

"You need to show more compassion," Dhalsim said, levitating slightly. "True, he knows it is wrong, but he is attempting to serve a greater good than simple civil law; namely, the welfare of his family."

"Law is law is law," Kuroko said, shaking his head. He would have continued, but Choi started screaming.

"HELP! Somebody! First Dream Tournament Champion, on my ass, won't get off, HELP! GET HER AWAY FROM ME!"

"What in the _world_ are you talking about, you little twit?! KIKOKEN!" Choi jumped up, grabbing himself in a sensitive area, where the fireball had struck (can't tell you where, sorry, this is a family show).

"Excuse me, won't you?" Kuroko turned away from Dhalsim and fireballed Choi out of the ring. When he turned back, he saw that Dhalsim was looking at him with a stern expression. "Oh, please... he _did_ ask for someone to get him away from Chun Li..."

* * *

**A Kilrathi Ship**

"Take the little human intruder to the..." the lighting shifted melodramatically, "interrogation room." The catlike alien commander poked Choi in the chest. "We **will** find out how you got in here, little one..."

"I'm telling you, I'm in the Rumble! You should have gotten a message, telling you all about it! It's not my faaauuulllttt..." The two _very_ big Kilrathi guards hauled Choi away.

* * *

**The Ring**

"Oops. I thought I might have missed a node when I was sending out warnings." Brant was somewhat embarrassed.

Birdman dismissed it with a wave of his hand. "He'll teleport back here in fifteen minutes. No harm done."

Brant was quiet.

Wanderer looked sidelong at Brant. "He will be teleported back... right?"

Brant looked guilty. "There are still a few... bugs... in the system..."

Both Birdman and Wanderer slapped themselves in the forehead.

Meanwhile, Nakoruru had helped Ukyo to his feet. "Are you all right?"

"...all... things considered... _no_... but I'll manage..." Ukyo coughed up a little more blood than usual, and staggered a little, but he was on his feet.

Of course, neither Larcen nor Jacky helped matters when they attacked the two Samurais. Jacky landed a series of fierce punches on Nakoruru, bloodying her nose. Ukyo immediately slashed Larcen across the stomach, but all he did was strike sparks off of the burglar tools in Larcen's coat pockets.

"Nice try, kid, but don't play with sharp objects." Larcen whacked Ukyo four times with his Hammer Punch string, and avoided the subsequent Zanzou Fumikomi Giri by jumping up to the ceiling and attaching his grappling hook to it. Suddenly, to Ukyo's extreme displeasure, Larcen swung down, neatly kicking him with both feet (and let's not forget the spiked shoes) in the small of the back. Ukyo fell over, and Larcen backflipped away.

Unfortunately for Larcen, he landed by the ethical debate (which, paradoxically, had now grown to involve Chun Li and King, who were providing the "feminine viewpoint"). As Ukyo began the motions for a retaliatory Tsubame Gaeshi, Larcen yelled "PUNK!" Ukyo dashed back, and raised his sword, but...nothing happened. He just brought it back down as if wondering what he had been planning to do.

Larcen smiled, and began to move in for the kill... um, the elimination... but Dhalsim teleported into his way.

"Excuse me, but I'd like to ask you to stop with such comments. You are interfering with my karma."

"Get used to it, pal. You're next."

"Very well." Suddenly, Dhalsim grabbed Larcen in a choke hold and began pounding him in the head repeatedly. After a few hits, Dhalsim let go, pushed him back a bit, and punched Larcen over the "ropes."

The streets in Deja Vu were dark, and gritty, and stained with shadows like the long fingers of sin. Larcen landed in an alleyway, twisting so he landed on his feet. He pulled his coat collar up, and stalked out onto the street, irritated with his poor performance.

"Ah, well. I suppose it's for the best." He'd been a contender for a few minutes, and, maybe, that would be enough. He hoped so. Larcen lit a cigarette, shook out the match, and walked down the street, headed for the nearest bar. On the way, he passed a guy punching out a mugger in an alleyway. He paid it no mind.

"Well, that was odd," Wanderer stated.

Birdman took a tape out of the control console. "It wasn't bad. Not a big fan of film noir?"

"Never paid it much mind. Hey... seems like we're in the final ten, folks! Bishamon, Guy, Kuroko, King, Kidd, Ukyo, Nakoruru, Chun Li, Jacky, and Dhalsim!"

Birdman looked at his new clipboard, and leaned over his mike. "That's right, Wanderer! Right now, the Street Fighters are dominating, with three fighters in the ring and the first-place contestant, but that could change at any time. Let me tell you, if you're watching at home, the tensions are running high here! Now, we'll pause for a brief moment with the Vegas oddsmakers, for those of you who've placed bets on the fight."

"Isn't that illegal?"

"Yup. But it's not like we care! Back in a minute..."

* * *

**Room 343, RumbleDome Hotel**

"Mary! You decent?" Terry knocked on the door, and it swung open slowly. He walked in, and saw Blue Mary's bathrobe lying on the floor. Her travel bag was open, the contents strewn liberally across the bed. Her fighting outfit and taser, notably, were gone.

"Must have gone down to watch the fight," Terry mused. He started to lie down on the bed, but as he did so, he noticed something curled up between it and the wall.

Blue Mary's dog was sleeping there, curled up in a ball. That was just odd; ordinarily, Blue didn't go anywhere without her dog. However,  
there was a faint smell in the air that Terry recognized...that of chloroform.

"What in the hell...?" Terry picked up the dog, which barely stirred.

Suddenly, there was a shape falling through the door. It belonged to Andy Bogard.

Terry dropped the dog. (It didn't stir at that, either.) "ANDY!" Andy looked like he'd been hit by a bus. His clothing was scorched and torn. Hell, he looked worse than he did if he lost a fight in their home node.

"Terry..."

"Easy, Andy. Don't try and talk."

"...yeah... if I shut up... _that'll_ help the broken ribs..." Andy smiled weakly. "...Terry... Demitri's... got Mary... they're gonna... her... to that Dark Guy... upper floors... penthouse..." Andy went limp.

Terry set Andy on the bed and straightened his cap. He felt himself in the grip of a rage he'd only felt twice before in his life.

"Not again," he said. "Never again." Terry left the room for the nearest elevator.

In the penthouse, Morrigan stopped concentrating, allowing Andy to fall unconscious, and smiled.

* * *

**Room 243, RumbleDome Hotel**

It was not what warriors refer to as a "good fight."

The Mortal Kombatants, knowing they were for the most part outnumbered and outclassed, were hosing the room down with projectiles. Fireballs, Blade Sparks, Blade Lassoes, knives, sais, acid bolts, boomerangs, Defusers, lightning bolts, and Guidance Shots filled the air. The Killer Instinctives were all down, since, as is commonly known, it's hard to combo someone when you can't get anywhere near them. Riptor, in particular, was in a world of hurt; after being pulverized by Wan-Fu, Mega Optic Blasted, and now struck by lightning, air-juggled for a good five minutes, Blade Lassoed, and uppercutted, all in one day, the dinosaur was seriously considering lapsing into a coma.

The rest of the fighters in the room were taking cover, occasionally popping up to take a potshot with a projectile or a piece of furniture. Colossus, using his Super Armor and therefore able to completely ignore the missile war, was brawling with Motaro, whose superior manuverability (read: teleport-crazy little bastard) was canceling out the X-Man's _much_ greater strength.

Meanwhile, in the hallway, the fight between Shao Kahn and Rugal was proceeding as expected. Both of them were attacking, knocking each other down, and attacking again, along with the usual comments about their respectiv e omnipotence. In other words, a normal fight. Finally, considerably weakened, Shao Kahn withdrew a ways and began firing bolts of green flame at Rugal.

He was completely surprised when Rugal reflected them back at him. So surprised, as a matter of fact, that he didn't think to block.

And so it came to pass that a barely alive Shao Kahn was flung headlong into the middle of the Mortal Kombatants by a righteously pissed Omega Rugal. This disrupted them for long enough that Earthquake and Chang were able to wade into their ranks, beating them senseless or Fat Chainsawing them with equal facility. A distracted Motaro found himself picked up in a Big Swing by Colossus, and flung neatly out the window.

* * *

**The Ring**

For the second time in five minutes, everyone's attention was diverted to events outside the ring. Motaro's abrupt descent out the hotel window only lasted a couple of seconds, ending when his fall was broken by Thugg's cousin Blamm.

Later, many people agreed that Wanderer said it best: "Aroo?"

With surprising calm, Birdman hit the comm button. "Um, Brant?"

"I know, I know. I've got Scott heading down there now."

"Good."

* * *

**Room 243**

With their two big guns gone, the Mortal Kombatants gave the battle up for lost. Ermac, Scorpion, and Noob Saibot teleported away, and, after a moment's thought, Shang Tsung morphed into Kung Lao and followed suit. This, theoretically, left Sindel in charge. Sindel's first act as the commanding officer was to get repeatedly decked by Jack-2.

Kano, realizing that having one's battle plans in the hands of a vegetable wasn't the best idea, Knife Uppercutted Earthquake to get him away. "Let's get out of here!" he yelled, knocking Rugal prone with his Cannonball. "Baraka! Jade! Cover us!" If there was one thing that running from Sonya for so long had taught him, it was how to mount a strategic retreat. Kano made a break for the door, with Mileena and Rain right behind him. Sindel was too dazed to run, although she did try. Jade lingered for a moment longer, throwin g a few more boomerangs, before running after them.

This, unfortunately, left Baraka in the room facing Earthquake and Chang on his own. Jade would have followed, but Saishu caught her and slammed her to the ground before that happened.

The predictable then occurred. At the time of this writing, they haven't found all of Baraka, and Jade is still in traction.

Rugal, holding Shao Kahn by the throat, laughed. "They certainly don't make gods like they used to... gather up what pieces you can of his men." Colossus and Jack-2 began picking up unconscious Mortal Kombatants. "This room is no longer secure. We're heading up to De-"

"FREEZE!" Scott Johnson, Security Director for the Rumble, was standing in the hall outside with two Virtua Cops and a squad of Rumble Security Brutes (tm, patent pending) behind him. All of them were aiming various kinds of harmful equipment at Rugal and his men. Scott was empty-handed. "Nunzio, take a squad and run down those MKers who were running out of here. I think I can handle this."

"Gotcha, boss." Some of the troops ran down the hall.

"Do you honestly think that you pose a threat to me?" Rugal asked, a cruel smile creasing his features. Chang smiled, balancing his iron ball easily in one hand. Saishu called more of the Source into his hands, where it crackled dangerously like a thing alive. Earthquake idly twirled his big... spear... thing... (what _is_ that thing, anyway?) around on its chain, burping. Jack-2 and Colossus flexed impressively. They all looked dangerous, and evil.

"Nope." Scott pulled a large, intricate mechanism off his back, and touched a switch on its back. It began humming gently as he aimed it at the assembled fighters. "I think that this BFG-9000 I stopped off for does."

Rugal went pale.

"Now, I think you, and all of your playmates, should do me a _big_ favor and march ahead of me down to the containment rooms, where you, Birdman, and I are going to have a nice, long chat about the whole 'no fighting outside the ring' rule." Scott motioned with the BFG's barrel. "Go right ahead."

* * *

**Room 1891, RumbleDome Hotel**

"Powers of darkness, I call upon you..." As a ceremonial magician, Demitri made a lousy speechmaker. The only thing keeping the assembled slaves from nodding off was the raw power that saturated the room. Everyone's hair was standing on end.

Charlotte, not wearing her armor, stood next to the altar, her eyes half-lidded in bliss at the hand Demitri had on her shoulder. Haohmaru was beginning, slightly, to stir, but one of the side-effects of the magical runes drawn on his flesh was that they kept him safely asleep. A similar rune on her forehead kept Charlotte relatively quiet and docile (since, as is generally known, the best method of enslavement in the world will probably break when the enslaver is threatening the enslavee with a large sharp knife).

Meanwhile, outside, Billy Kane and Kazuya were guarding the door and watching the elevators. Neither of them were saying much, the enslavement they were both under not really permitting small talk.

Suddenly, the lefthand elevator door opened with a slight _ding_ sound. Muzak wafted out. No one seemed to be in it. Just to be sure, though, Kazuya went over to investigate.

As he stepped into the elevator car, he noticed a playing card on the floor. Kazuya bent down to pick it up. It was a cherry-blossom hanafuda card.

Kazuya figured out exactly what that meant just a little bit too late. A figure dropped from the ceiling.

"YOU! I cannot believe that any wussy loser that wasn't Haohmaru (who is such a loser that he would fall for almost anything that I can think of including setting a big mousetrap with a sake jug as bait with a big sign reading TRAP FOR THAT WUSSY LOSER HAOHMARU pointing right to it and telling Oshizu beforehand that I was setting a trap for her loser boyfriend so she would tell him) would fall for such a trick and be lured into a position where I could demonstrate their loserness to anyone who would care to look..." This sentence was accompanied by Genjuro beating the righteous snot out of Kazuya. A Toha Kouyokujin finished him off.

Inside Demitri's room, the vampire stopped chanting, irritated, at the sound of Genjuro's monologue. "I suppose that means that Rugal has been dealt with. Disappointing. Hmnh... would someone like to go out there for me and handle him?"

No one answered. Jon Talbain burst into mocking laughter.

Demitri sighed. "You act like there's a choice in the matter..." He looked over the ranks of his slaves, deciding on who to send.

"Allow me." The voice echoed throughout the room. A sudden flash of black, sulphurous smoke heralded the arrival of Akuma.

"An interesting entrance." Demitri smirked. "And where have _you_ been...?"

"I had a bit of separation anxiety to deal with." Akuma bowed. "However, while I was gone, you appear to have handled the situation nicely. I humbly place my services at your disposal."

Demitri frowned. He was being far too polite...not to mention that there was no way in hell that he was going to get close enough to Akuma to try to bite him. That strange power that he controlled was too unpredictable, and Demitri did not fancy being cooked from within by Akuma's blood. However, he was an effective blunt instrument...and in another twenty minutes, not even _his_ power could help him. "Very well. Go, then, and deal with Genjuro."

Akuma turned to leave.

"And... Akuma?"

"Yes?"

"Don't disappoint me."

He smiled. "Not likely." As he turned away from the vampire, his features bent into an expression of absolute rage. If not for that fluke of nodal conflict, he would have had Haohmaru by now. He would have to settle, then, for denying that power to anyone...

Demitri then spoke to Morrigan. "It would seem that Sakazaki is probably also on his way up."

"What makes you think that?"

"I just lost mental contact with Bison." Demitri's face was absolutely calm. Demitri's face lied. "Undoubtedly, Sakazaki has help. Send out our fighters..."

* * *

**Hundred and Thirty-First Floor, RumbleDome Hotel**

"Sorry," Ryo said to Charlie. "I know you wanted a piece of Bison, but we have more important things to do."

Charlie just stared. Everyone else was equally open-mouthed. (Unless they were unconscious.)

Robert cleared his throat, and said, "Um, Ryo, ol' buddy...? What was that?"

"Oh, that... just something I was wondering if I could do. No big deal." Ryo looked around the corridor, ignoring Robert's sputtering. Sie, Wolverine, Rikuo, and Lei Wulong were down, Kim Dragon was bleeding badly, and Robert was barely on his feet. King was trying to get up, but Storm, tending to his wounds, kept pushing him back down. Finally, there was an unhealthy look in Kyo's eyes that Ryo didn't like. "Is everyone else all right?"

There were nods and terse replies all around. "Storm, how are the wounded?"

The X-(Wo)man finished wrapping King's burns in bits of her cape and stood up. "Sie Kensou will live, but he's very badly hurt; Rikuo just needs water; Wolverine will be back on his feet soon; and Lei needs care I cannot give him." She poked the feebly struggling King. "This one should not be alive, much less attempting further combat."

Ryo cursed. "We can't carry them with us. Break into one of the hotel rooms and lay them out as best you can. Kim, you're staying here and tending to the wounded." Kim started to protest as Stryker bandaged him, but Ryo cut him short. "Don't try it. You're about three steps away from needing to be sewn back together. You'll be no help to us if you fall over from blood loss."

Kim bowed his head. "I know."

Heavy D! whistled. "That was cold, man."

Ryo ignored him. "Close the door and don't make any sound. If someone tries to get in, wake Wolverine or something. The rest of you, upstairs. We haven't got much time." Ryo glanced out the hole he'd made. "There are only ten people left in the ring..."

* * *

**The Ring**

That was about to change.

Nakoruru and Jacky Bryant were still fighting. Nakoruru was faster, but Jacky was stronger. They were both giving as good as they got, tiring each other out more than anything. Nakoruru didn't do much damage against people from her own node, much less someone accustomed to taking the punishment that Virtua Fighters tended to dish out. On the other hand, Jacky wasn't connecting very often against Nakoruru, who was doing most of her fighting as a tag team with Mamahaha.

"What the hell is your problem, lady?" Jacky panted, barely blocking over a low slash.

"I don't know what you mean," Nakoruru replied, jumping over Jacky to avoid his roundhouse punch.

"All of it," Jacky spat, barely blocking a low kick. "It's not bad enough you have a sword, but you've got the damn bird, and all of these freaking magic special moves..."

Nakoruru dropped off of Mamahaha, her face stern. "You should not chastise me, simply because I fight to my fullest potential. We are warriors; to give the battle less than everything we have is a violation of our duty. I fight with what I have been given, and I have been given what I have because I serve a higher cause, that of Nature. That is my duty, and my privilege-"

"-and you talk _way_ too much..." Jacky turned around, kicking, his swinging heel catching Nakoruru under the jaw, cutting off the rest of the samurai speech with a sound kind of like "GURRGG!" She stumbled forward, choking, into Jacky's waiting arms. He then tossed her out of the ring. Half of the crowd started chanting his name and applauding, and half of the crowd began threatening him with acts of physical violence that might have been anatomically impossible.

Nakoruru landed in Bubble Bobble. A small, green dinosaur frantically began covering her in soapsuds. She immediately decided she was hallucinating.

Ukyo, meanwhile, was barely holding his own against Captain Kidd. The pirate was apparently still somewhat sore about his loss to Ukyo in the third Dream Tournament, and he was out for payback. Ordinarily, this would have been no contest, but the kensai was still reeling from the amount of punishment that had already been dealt to him this round, and Nakoruru, who ordinarily would have tried to help him, had just been eliminated. Ukyo was down to his last trick. Quickly, he delivered a Swoop Swallow Slash, stuffing Kidd's attempt to Spiral Kick him and gaining him some room.

Reaching into the pockets of his robe, he pulled out an apple, and gently tossed it at the oncoming Kidd. It almost seemed to float through the air, quickly reaching the apex of its arc.

Ukyo swung his long sword in a single smooth movement, cutting the apple into quarters.

Or, at least, he tried.

As he ended his slash, he became aware that his sword hadn't encountered even the slight degree of resistance it normally did. He turned around and saw Captain Kidd, smiling brightly, and holding the apple. He had taken a bite out of it.

"It's not such a great trick when you know it's comin', lad," he commented. Kidd then grabbed the weary swordsman and threw him through the field.

Ukyo landed in Castlevania. The Grim Reaper turned to face him, scythe held high.

He promptly disassembled it with a Super Swallow Slash. "...I'm not... ready for you... just yet..." He then succumbed to a coughing fit.

Captain Kidd, back in the ring, turned around, dusting himself off, to face King, Guy, Chun Li, and Bishamon.

Kidd gave them all an exasperated glare. "What?"

* * *

**Hundred and Thirty-First Floor, RumbleDome Hotel**

"LOOK OUT!" Donovan yelled. Ryo felt the step under his foot give a little, then looked up to see a stone block the size of Kintaro heading directly for his and Robert's heads. He began to instinctively Koho it, but he and Robert had already been yanked back by Donovan and Heavy D!. The block hit hard, punching through the landing they had been standing on and continuing down, to slam into the floor of the stairwell's entrance, two floors below.

"This is getting ridiculous," Stryker griped. He was already nursing a long gash in his leg from an earlier trap. Dan would have agreed, but he was still somewhat dizzy from being dropped down two flights of stairs when the staircase gave way. Street Fighter or not, that had hurt.

"I agree," Jago/Doom said. "Demitri must have known that someone would oppose of his plot. Undoubtedly every route up to his penthouse is riddled with traps." After all, Doom mused to himself, that was exactly how _he_ would have done it.

Suddenly, there was a shout from below. "Hey! Ryo!" Iceman, Jeffry, and Kung Lao ran into the stairwell, around the stone block. They were immediately followed by Liu Kang, Ryu, and Galford. "We brought help! Don't worry, we told them everything."

They certainly had. Ryu and Liu Kang were, as usual, unruffled, but Galford looked ready to chew nails. Poppy was looking up the stairs and growling faintly.

Ryo thought for a moment. "Good. We could use a few more people, especially since we're splitting up."

"Is that really a good idea?" Donovan asked.

"Not really. But it increases the odds that someone will get through to Demitri's room. All we have to do is slow him down, remember?" Ryo felt very tired for a moment. He was talking about their lives... he almost turned to Charlie and told him to take charge. How could he do this, with so much at stake? Then, he shook his head violently. "I can't think about that right now!"

They all looked at him strangely. "What?" Storm asked.

"Nothing. It was nothing." Ryo looked them over. "Charlie, take Kung Lao, Matrix, Jeffry, and Stryker, and go up the stairs. Donovan, you, Robert, Dan, and Iceman follow Charlie, but split up when you reach Demitri's floor. Ryu, Kyo, Galford, and Liu will take the elevator. Storm, D!, Yoshi, Sasquatch, you're with me. Everyone clear?"

There were a chorus of nods.

"All right. Let's do it." He watched all of their faces, trying to memorize them. "Good luck."

Before Ryu turned to walk away, he looked at Ryo.

"Yes?" Ryo asked, hesitantly.

"The first time I saw you, I thought that you reminded me of someone I trained with." Ryu smiled. "I was wrong. You and he are nothing alike." Ryu shook his hand. "Good luck to you as well." He then followed his group towards the elevator.

Ryo watched him leave, slightly humbled. "Did I just hear what I thought I did?"

Yoshimitsu piped up, "Survey says: _DING_! Yes!"

"What are we doin', man?" D! asked.

"What? Oh, right." Ryo turned back to them. "Storm, how much can you carry?"

"I am not very strong, but I control the winds; they lift as much as I wish. Why do you ask?"

"Just curious." Ryo smiled, all of his doubts gone. "We're flying up."

* * *

**The Ring**

They were standing four on four.

Guy, Chun Li, King, and Bishamon were next to each other, facing Dhalsim, Captain Kidd, Kuroko, and Jacky.

They were all studying each other, knowing that one of them was the next champion of the Rumble. Most eyes were on Guy, who was in first place, and thus, understandably, _very_ paranoid. The crowd was absolutely quiet.

The fighters' eyes met.

They all nodded to each other in respect.

And then they attacked.

* * *

**Outside Room 1891, RumbleDome Hotel**

Genjuro advanced on Billy Kane, his sword held low. "I am going to be the only one who can kill Haohmaru, not some wussy vampire (although why anyone would want to bother sacrificing him I don't know since any god worth the name wouldn't want anything to do with such a loser) and I will kill anyone who tries to keep me from doing it especially some overall-wearing wuss who fights with a long stick of wood and still thinks he has the right to consider himself a man..."

"Oh, SHUT UP!" Billy said, clocking Genjuro between the eyes with the end of his staff.

Genjuro replied by slashing downwards. Billy barely got out of the way by backing towards the door. He knew when he was outclassed.

Before he got there, though, they opened slightly.

"HADOKEN!" Akuma's fireball went over BIlly's head, to catch the advancing Genjuro in the chest. "Stand and fight, boy. This insect is no challenge."

Billy nodded. "Maybe you're right." (Of course, if he hadn't been enslaved, he would have been halfway back to his home node by now.) He pulled himself painfully up.

Genjuro growled as he slapped at the burn on his chest. Suddenly, he threw an Oukazan at Akuma, who disdainfully blocked.

"That is the best you can do, Genjuro?" It was less a question than a statement. "How pathetic." There was a soft bell-like tone from the other elevator door. "If that's the case, I don't know how you can consider yourself any kind of samurai... I have fought sixteen-year-old children who have more fighting skill than you." The doors slid open. "Prepare to die, 'loser'..."

"POWER WAVE!"

Akuma was knocked off of his feet by the ground-based missile. From the other elevator car, Terry Bogard straightened up from his crouch, his hand slightly smoking. "Akuma. And Billy Kane. I should have known you'd be in league with Demitri."

Akuma grimaced. "A temporary alliance." He began to tremble with rage. "However, it is one that will last quite a bit longer than the rest of either of your lives..." Both he and Kane leaped.

* * *

_Original Authors_

Chris "Birdman" Bird  
Thomas "Wanderer" Wilde


	28. Section 14 - Results

**Section Fourteen - Results**

**The Ring**

If Guy had known that being in first place would mean getting constantly pounded with fireballs, he'd have gotten himself eliminated a long time ago. Kuroko was a constant blur of Mega Smashes, Kohkens, Kaiser Waves, HaohShoKohKens, flags on chains, and, although Guy couldn't swear to it, he thought there had been a kitchen sink flying at him a moment ago. The only thing keeping him on his feet was his speed, and even that was wearing thin.

Meanwhile, across the ring:

"KIKOKEN!" Chun Li wound up and threw a fireball at Jacky Bryant. Close up, he'd been more than a match for her; maybe she could take advantage of her stronger distance game?

He neatly stepped around the Kikoken and rushed in at Chun, hitting her on the chin with a backfist as she straightened up, then sweeping her off of her feet.

"The answer to that would be 'no,' then," she thought, as her backside hit the canvas.

"I won't kid you; this is not how I imagined our rematch working out," he said, advancing cautiously on her. "This is actually easy. What happened? Did you stop training or something?"

"I don't know-" she wiped her face, "-what you're talking about." She'd never fought this man, yet Jacky kept prattling on about a 'rematch.' Was _everyone_ at this tournament crazy? Chun spun on him with a sudden high roundhouse kick, which he almost disdainfully blocked, then knocked her to the ground. Somehow, even though she'd never fought the man before, he was able to consistently block and counter every one of her moves, as if he knew exactly what to look for.

Thinking of their match in the first round of Dream Tournament Three, Jacky backpedaled quickly as Chun got up, and her wakeup Lightning Kick struck only air. However, Chun Li had another trick that he didn't know about; as he stood in front of her waiting for her to stop kicking, she glowed briefly, and canceled the Lightning Kick into the Thousand Burst, slamming Jacky backward.

"Is it _still_ easy?!" she demanded, lowering her leg.

Jacky was too busy checking for missing teeth to respond immediately. However, when he did, it was with a chain of straight punches that made Chun wish she'd shut up.

Across the ring, in what was, perhaps, one of the biggest mismatches of the night, Captain Kidd and Bishamon were fighting tooth and nail. Kidd was losing. Badly. Bishamon's range and Reversal Slashes were simply too much for the pirate, despite the fact that Bishamon was having an ongoing argument with his sword and flames (concerning, it seemed, how much it hurt when the duct tape got ripped off). Once again, Kidd fumed, someone with a sword was making an ass out of him. In his next node, he was bringing a cutlass, and that was all there was to it. But for now, trickery would have to do.

"All right, already, lad. I surrender." Kidd stood in front of Bishamon, his arms held out by his sides, palms out.

"What?" Bishamon, the sword, the armor, and both flames said in unison.

"You heard me. I surrender. This is all pointless anyway. The sooner someone wins this, the sooner the Multiverse gets saved. It's in everyone's best interest if we cut this out now."

"This is unexpected, Kidd." Bishamon lowered his sword.

"I wouldn't be too surprised, actually." Kidd took Bishamon off-guard with a Shark Upper, knocking the undead samurai for a loop. Kidd then ran for his life.

He didn't run fast enough. Bishamon leaped into the air, and sent one of his little blue flames spiraling down at Kidd's back (which completely ruined the dramatic effect by yelling "BANZAI!"). As it made contact, the ghostly image of a beautiful woman appeared before Kidd. The pirate slowed down and stopped, his eyes wide.

Said beautiful woman held out a beckoning hand, and Kidd, entranced, stepped closer.

She then rudely punched him in the nose. Bishamon then walked up behind the stunned pirate, turned him around, and slashed him repeatedly, the final blow knocking Kidd through the "field."

He looked at the ghost. "That was somewhat melodramatic, my love."

She shrugged. "It happens to the best of us."

"Woo-woo! Bishy's gettin' down with the ladies!" the sword called. Bishamon slammed it once into the ring floor to shut it up.

In the meantime, Kidd had landed in Skulls 'N' Crossbones, in the middle of a fight between the pirate heroes and the fiendish Red Wizard. The heroes were not doing well; both of their shirts were soaked with blood.

The Wizard looked up and was struck in the face with a Shark Knuckle. "Up and at 'em, lads! We aren't licked yet!" Kidd continued his assault. The pirates rallied, and joined the fray.

"Hey, I remember that!" Wanderer looked away from the DimensionCam. "Good node for Kidd, folks. That's what you call serendipity."

"No," Birdman said, "serendipity is when you're cleaning your gun late at night and it goes off suddenly because you forgot to unload it and it kills the burglar whom you didn't know was there. _That's_ just an ironic choice for Kidd."

Wanderer wordlessly stared at Birdman, who shrugged and continued with the commentary.

* * *

**Misty John's Office, RumbleDome Hotel**

"Bunny, sweetheart, would I lie to you? Enlightenment is just _that_ easy. All you have to do is trust me - hello?" John hung up the phone dejectedly. He didn't understand it; usually, that pickup line _always _worked...

"Whoa." His magick grid was flashing. He immediately walked over to inspect it.

The grid usually showed an overhead view of the entire Rumble node, which only really contained the RumbleDome. At a touch of a given square in the grid, John could get a larger, more detailed layout of an area. It was one of the technicians' greatest works, and about the only bit of technomagick the Akashic Brother had ever seen that was actually worth using.

However, there were a couple of things he hadn't noticed before as his eyes ran across the map. There were the usual large blips on the grid, corresponding to where most of the mages happened to be at the moment; those of them that employed what most called "magic moves" also showed up on the grid. Oddly enough, though, a lot of the biggest blips were concentrated either in one of the luxury suites or in what was perhaps the most isolated sub-basement of them all. One of the biggest seemed to be climbing up the outside of the hotel. Those didn't really bother John; mages tend to wind up in strange places.

There was something else that did concern him, though. With the dependence on technology that most of the staff employed, the only magick that should be running around belonged to the fighters and himself. That wasn't the case; according to the grid, the entire node was starting to faintly pulse with magick, like background radiation.

But what would someone gain by doing this? John could only think of a couple of things, and both of them were *really* bad. He keyed the comm unit built into his wall. "Brant? I think you might want to see this."

* * *

**Staircase, RumbleDome Hotel**

Stryker examined the stairs. Demitri or one of his men had, at one point, boobytrapped every landing with an endless variety of ways to disable or kill someone; so far, they'd had to avoid poisonous gases, punji stakes, explosives, breakaway steps, glue, spikes, darts, falling ceilings, and, in one case, whoever had set the traps had apparently gotten bored with routine and had set two of the walls on the hundred and seventy-seventh floor landing to slam together with terrific force. Not seeing anything out of the ordinary this time, he shrugged and turned to Charlie. "Should we?"

"Might as well."

They started blasting away, wrecking the stairs to hell and back. Robert's HaohShoKohKens, Stryker's gunfire, Charlie's Sonic Booms, Iceman's... ice, Kung Lao's razored hats, and Donovan's elemental barrages all combined to shear the stairwell apart quite efficiently. The echoes carried quite some distance, magnifying the noise tenfold and shaking tiles loose from the ceiling. Matrix and Jeffry, the only people present without projectiles, and Dan, whose Gadoken was of little use in this situation, simply sat and waited with their hands over their ears, hoping their hearing wouldn't be too badly damaged.

After a minute or so of this, Charlie brought his hand down to signal that they should stop, and surveyed the wreckage. Standing out in stark contrast with the blackened ruin of the stairs were a tripwire and a broken fake stair, the gas trap that either trap would have activated now obvious (and with a razored hat stuck in it). Iceman concentrated briefly, and covered the wrecked stairs with a thick layer of ice. The group then continued upward.

It was and had been the same every time; as they reached the top of one flight of stairs, they destroyed the next. Then they would destroy the landing, the walls, the wiring, the lights, the floor, and finally Stryker would throw a few grenades just to be sure they'd gotten everything. Matrix would curse them all for slowly destroying her hearing, Iceman and Donovan would reinforce the stairs, and they'd continue up.

The purpose of this was twofold: first off, they were in a hurry. Second, if they presented as large a target as they could, letting everyone within a mile know they were coming, it would hopefully distract Demitri and his men away from Ryo and Ryu's groups.

Eventually, they reached the top of the stairs, leading out to the hundred and eightieth floor of the hotel. This was where the Hotel's normal suites yielded to the luxury apartments, which were big enough that there were only three to a floor; they were fully equipped with satellite dishes, thick rugs, waterbeds, walk-in closets, picture windows, surround-sound, and the usual easily stolen bathrobes with the UVR logo stenciled on the breast. The luxury rooms were only available to those fighters who were willing to pay for them, as opposed to simply getting a free room for competing in the Rumble. At the current time, the only fighters who had rooms up here were Robert, Earthquake (who had just broken the lock and moved in), King (the KOFer, not the Tekkeneer), Lion Rafale, Magneto, and Demitri.

Stryker and Charlie came out of the stairway door fast, each of them covering a different side. Donovan, held Kilshred up and came in between them.

"It's clear," Stryker called.

"I wonder why?" Donovan sheathed Kilshred.

"They know we're here... we made more than enough noise coming up the stairs. Which means..." Charlie muttered.

Donovan, Charlie, and Stryker said it together. "...ambush."

"All right," Charlie said, "this is where we split up. I'll take my group up now; Stryker, you take point." Stryker nodded. "Donovan, wait five minutes, and then come up after us."

"Good luck."

"You too." The two men shook hands, and Charlie's group walked away.

* * *

**Outside Room 1891, RumbleDome Hotel**

Genjuro rushed at Billy and Akuma, his sword swinging. "Nothing shall prevent me from killing Haohmaru especially a bunch of losers like you who have undoubtedly all joined in an alliance to keep the Multiverse from discovering that Haohmaru is a wussy loser, for that is what they will learn when I kill him and rip his arms off and beat him with them then cut off his legs and sew them back on where his arms should be and attach his legs to his shoulders so he walks funny then I will take his sword and duct-tape it to his back blade first so when he falls down he will impale himself and since his arms are where his legs should be he will do that a lot and then I will form a sideshow around 'Haohmaru the Oddly Walking Self-Impaling Wussy Loser' and tour the world and make a lot of money and although Earthquake will try to steal my money he won't be able to for he is a fat loser who will drop dead of a heart attack in mid-theft-"

"HADOKEN!"

Genjuro kept coming even after the fireball had hit him in the chest.

At least, Akuma mused, he was no longer talking. "TATSUMAKI SENPUUKYAKU!" Akuma hopped into the air, and his foot blurred, slamming into the advancing Genjuro several times. Quickly, Akuma pressed the advantage with a flurry of kicks, leading up to a flaming Dragon Punch that connected squarely with Genjuro's chin.

"Ow," Genjuro said, getting up; it was, to date, the shortest sentence he could ever remember saying. Akuma quickly jumped to his other side, to avoid a counterstrike, but it didn't come from that direction. A light, flicking blow slashed him along the side and knocked him out of the air. More importantly, it kept him within a sword's-reach of Genjuro.

Genjuro didn't let up there. There was no way that he was going to let this loser take the fight to a distance again, and so he brought his sword to bear in a deadly volley of blows, keeping Akuma close to him, where he was best. It was a brutally effective strategy. In his initial strikes, he dealt more damage to Akuma than anyone, not Ryu, not Haohmaru, _any_one, had ever been able to do. His sword was a featureless blur that Akuma was almost helpless to counter or avoid, spraying the walls and floor with what Akuma felt were wholly gratuitous amounts of his blood.

Billy, seeing Akuma in trouble (!), ran towards the door to Demitri's room. "This is freakin' dangerous... I have to warn the Master-" Almost instantly, something knocked him down. As he struggled up, leaning on his staff, Terry kicked him in the back of the head, slamming him back down to the floor and into near-unconsciousness.

That dealt with, Terry faced the door, and was about to Burn Knuckle it into toothpicks when he remembered about Akuma and Genjuro. Neither was the kind of person he wanted to leave behind him while they were still standing. Turning around, he saw Genjuro carving Akuma into cold cuts, and nodded. He could just wait for Genjuro to win, knock him out, and use him to beat Demitri's door in.

It was a good plan, but Genjuro promptly screwed it up. He was winning; there was no doubt of that. Akuma was on his last legs. Wounds crisscrossed his body like some demonic game of tic-tac-toe. Scarlet streaked down his blade. Confident in that, Genjuro opened his mouth. All he got out was "...wussy loser who smells like rotten eggs..." before Akuma closed it for him with a Dragon Punch.

Pressing his momentary advantage, Akuma launched a bigger-than-normal fireball at Genjuro as he got up, engulfing him in flames and knocking him back down again. This worm had _hurt_ him; no one could do such and live to tell about it. However, the pain was good. It forced him to think. More importantly, the pain gave rise to the powers he commanded. Akuma was practically bursting at the seams with chi. It dripped from every pore. He would need it all for what he had planned for this fool.

Running at him, Akuma gave an inarticulate yell of rage. That was real enough. His motivation wasn't. This meant that Genjuro would have to be foolish enough to believe that he would again try fighting up close, after it had backfired so badly the first time...

...and he was.

Terry saw what he was doing; he tried to knock Akuma down before he got to Genjuro, but he was a second too late. Genjuro slashed out at Akuma before he reached him, trying to end the fight with a single decisive blow to the neck. It was well-aimed.

But Akuma wasn't there anymore. He had teleported already, behind Genjuro, into the ronin's blind spot.

His power raged within him. With a cry of "SHUN GOKUSATSU!", Akuma released it. Light flared around him and Genjuro as Akuma barrelled forward in a brutal series of blows.

Five seconds later, a nearly dead Genjuro was on the floor.

Akuma turned to face an awe-stricken Terry Bogard. He'd never fought the whelp, but he'd seen him at the Dream Tournament. He was a skilled warrior, despite his appearance. Still no match for him, of course, but not someone Akuma could afford to underestimate.

"Ready to go down?" Terry asked, fists clenched. Akuma gave him credit; he wasn't going to back down. Foolish, but brave.

He allowed some amusement to show. "Hardly." He would not lose to this stripling, now or ever.

Terry wasn't thinking of Akuma. He was thinking of Blue Mary. It occurred to him that the longer he took to beat the living hell out of Akuma, the longer Demitri would stay alive, and his eyes narrowed. Terry rushed the renegade Shotokan before Akuma quite knew that he would.

Both of them gave the battle everything they had. Akuma was stronger, maybe, and definitely had finesse on his side, but Terry brought to the fight every ounce of adrenaline and Rage (tm, Brian Wright, WWWF Grudge Match) he possessed. Every technique either of them knew came into play. Power Waves were canceled by Hadokens. After the first time Terry felt a Shoryuken, he watched for them and sidestepped; as Akuma came down, he was met with a Rising Tackle. Hurricane Kicks were countered with Crack Shots, knocking both fighters down. Terry responded to Akuma's aerial fireballs by Power Dunking him to the floor. Akuma used every bit of power he could dredge up, flinging Super Combos as fast as he could, wearing Terry down even though they were usually blocked.

Finally, after an exhausting couple of minutes, Akuma screamed in pain, and the room darkened. Terry blocked instinctively, but Akuma's Shoryureppa pushed him backward regardless. As Terry stumbled backward, though, he tripped over Billy Kane. Unfortunately for Terry, this woke Billy up.

As he rose, Billy saw on one side of him Akuma standing and Genjuro not. On the other side, there was Terry, pulling himself out of the dent he'd made in the wall.

"Well, well, well," Billy said, twirling his staff. Quickly, he shot it forward and jabbed Terry in the stomach, doubling him over. "Not so brave now, are ya, hero? Not so tough..."

Terry grabbed the stick. Billy's entire demeanor changed instantly.

With a grunt, Terry tore the stick out of Billy's hands and grabbed him by the front of his overalls. He flung Billy headlong at Akuma, setting them both up for a "POWER..."

Akuma saw him telegraph the move, and stepped backward ever so slightly. Billy did not, hitting the floor right in front of Akuma, and so was at ground zero when Terry yelled:

"...**GEYSER**!" Instantly, the _massive_ column of sheet lightning shoved Billy up into the ceiling, frying the stickfighter to within an inch of his life. Akuma, even though out of the blast itself, fell backwards a bit from the sheer force of it.

Quickly, through the dying remnants of the Geyser, before Terry got his bearings, Akuma kicked him in the face. Terry, already exhausted, dropped to the floor.

Billy had weakly pulled himself up. He smelled char-broiled. "I can't believe we pulled that off."

"We?" Akuma raised an eyebrow.

"Okay, I can't believe _you_ pulled that off."

Akuma snorted. "I could handle twenty such. They were as nothing compared to my skill."

"Still, it was really cool when you slammed Genjuro with that Dragon Punch, the flaming one?"

**WHAM!**

Akuma nodded. "Yes, that one. Always a favorite. Don't you agree?"

Billy, being unconscious, said nothing.

"It would seem, unfortunately, that Demitri's doorway is now unguarded. It's odd."

Billy remained silent.

"Why, anyone who came along could walk right into Demitri's room, and disrupt whatever he had planned." Akuma grinned. "The powers of Haohmaru would remain locked, to disappear with the final victory in the ring, never tapped by anyone. But you wouldn't understand why I would want to deny that to Demitri. That is why you are a flunky."

Billy looked chagrined despite being in a near-coma.

_That should complicate Demitri's plans_, Akuma thought, dragging Billy to the side of the door. _If what I've seen so far is true, Sakazaki and his allies should be here at any second, and there will be no door guard to slow them down._ It amused Akuma that those who were so willing to betray their allies, like Demitri, were always so surprised when someone betrayed _them_. Especially when the vampire had to know that Akuma had also desired the power within the ronin...

Looking at the unconscious Terry Bogard, Akuma put his hand to his chin and considered his options. Noticing the increasing numbers on the elevator, Akuma picked him up, pressed a thumb underneath Terry's jaw, near his chin, dropped him, and teleported away. Terry had already begun to move.

* * *

**Outside the Hotel**

"Maybe this wasn't the best idea I've ever had," Ryo muttered. The only thing keeping him from a _very_ long fall was the death grip he had on Storm's hands.

"I find it amusing that someone who fears heights as you do suggested this," Storm said. She was concentrating on the winds that kept them aloft, but still managed to crack a thin smile. "Relax. I have been flying for a long time, and I have not dropped anyone yet."

"That's a relief, I think."

"Of course, you might be the first."

"That's not funny." A thousand feet below, the ring looked like a poker chip, and the roars of the crowd were too faint to notice. Ryo decided to look up, instead, into the sky. The RumbleDome's artificial day was coming to an end-off to the "west," the sun was slowly setting, and darkness had begun to steal over the landscape. The 'Dome's artificial lights had clicked on already, creating two conflicting sets of his and Storm's shadows against the hotel's wall.

Quietly, they set down on the balcony of Demitri's room. Immediately, Storm flew back down to the hundred and thirty-first floor to get Jago. Ryo quietly parted the curtains, and looked in at what was happening. He could hear voices, faintly, through the glass, and see a sudden flash of light.

* * *

**Eliminated Seating**

To great mock applause from the Street Fighters and others, Bison entered, rubbing the back of his head. Even though he'd never met this 'Guile,' he'd apparently killed someone very close to him. At least, that's what the man had been screaming the entire time he'd been handing Bison his ass in a bucket. Odd, how he'd fought so much like Charlie.

Birdie ran up to him, disrupting his thoughts. "Bison! Are you hurt? Can I help?"

"No, you can't. I have to be somewhere." The Master probably needed him. Bison didn't want to fail him again. Bison didn't want to lose his favor... At this thought, he felt more fear than he ever had before in his life, and he vanished.

* * *

**Room 1891, RumbleDome Hotel**

He reappeared in Demitri's apartments, in between him and an understandably startled Morrigan. The vampire seemed unruffled, even though he did blast Bison halfway across the room on general principle.

"How have you survived this long, Bison, if you couldn't keep Sakazaki back? You're making me suspect that your fearsome reputation is but smoke and mirrors."

Bison staggered up, the front of his uniform smoking. "He's changed, Master... he's grown somehow. I can't explain it."

"**I** can. However, my explanation concerns the fact that you're completely incompetent. Fortunately for you, Bison, I haven't the time right now to deal with you in the customary manner." Demitri accented the last word in a way that made absolutely clear to everyone what the "customary manner" happened to be.

Striding across the room, Demitri picked up Haohmaru, and threw the ronin over his shoulder. He also picked up something of similar size which was wrapped in cloth. "Come, Charlotte. We are leaving." The swordswoman meekly followed him.

"Leaving?" Morrigan jumped out of Wolf's lap. "Where the hell do you think you're going?"

Demitri glared at her, and her blood froze. "This room is, I fear, about to be overrun by do-gooders. I have no doubt that Akuma can keep Genjuro away, but Sakazaki must have mustered a small army if he has dealt with Bison's force. While the forces we have mustered are significant, I am not a fool. Fools trust blindly in their preparations to shield them. With such in mind, I am relocating my ritual." Morrigan drew herself up indignantly.

Jon Talbain muttered "Coward." Demitri was the only other being in the room who could hear it, and Jon knew it. The vampire suddenly looked pained, and Jon allowed a toothy grin to spread itself over his face. It wouldn't be too much longer now... the cage was slowly falling apart.

On the balcony, Ryo gritted his teeth. It was things like this that made eavesdropping so frustrating; he had to strain to hear every word. He hissed through the glass at Morrigan, "Come on... come on, you nymphomaniac... ask him where he's going..."

"You're leaving us here?"

Fortunately, no one in the room heard Ryo shouting obscenities.

"Oh, please. You're telling me you can't deal with Ryo Sakazaki? You have once before."

"True..." Morrigan nodded slowly, and as she did, she sent out a mental message to her slaves to join her in Demitri's room. She didn't like this, but once again, Demitri held all the cards. He was getting irritating that way. There was no way she could overtly refuse to guard Demitri, but maybe she could pull an advantage out of this yet... "I'll do it."

Demitri nodded. He had never doubted she would. "Do try to dispatch him as quickly as you can. I shall pull those of my slaves who are not otherwise occupied back here to help you." Demitri's eyebrows furrowed. "Bison?"

"Yes, Master?"

"Stay with Morrigan. Consider yourself blessed. I'm giving you a second chance."

"Yes, Master! I'll do my best!"

Most of the unenslaved portion of the room bit back a chuckle at that. Ryo muttered a few more choice words from Yuri's vocabulary (for a girl of her age, Yuri could send drunken sailors running with the best of 'em; too much time with King, he supposed), and contemplated how likely punching through the glass now and Super Haohshokokening the lot of them was to get him killed.

"What transpires, Sakazaki?"

Ryo nearly jumped out of his skin before realizing it was Jago/Doom. Storm had already disappeared over the edge of the balcony to get Yoshimitsu. "Demitri's relocating the sacrifice and leaving Morrigan to deal with anyone who comes up after him."

Doom muttered a curse in a language Ryo didn't know. "That may be inconvenient for us. Has he said to where?"

"Not yet."

Pensively, Doom counted heads aloud. Morrigan, Bison, Cyclops, Psylocke, Wolf Hawkfield, Sub-Zero, Mizuki, the bear Kuma, Paul Phoenix, Mai Shiranui, Iori Yagami, Ganryu, Bruce, Charlotte, Neo-Dio, a Fulgore unit... "I do not relish the idea of fighting through his bodyguards to reach the vampire. While they haven't the ability to match either myself or you," that last was obviously an afterthought, "they could slow us down sufficiently to allow Demitri to finish Haohmaru."

Suspiciously, Ryo asked, "What are you thinking, Doom?"

"Do not take that tone with me, boy." Doom looked at him and Ryo felt somehow smaller. "I suggest we wait here for a moment longer, and find out, if possible, where he plans to move his ritual to. Storm will fly us there, and we may deal with him." Those last five words were said with something very close to the crack of doom.

Ryo fought back the impulse to apologize. "I like it. We shouldn't have to-"

Then, from his seat across the room from Demitri and Morrigan, Iori Yagami suddenly leaped to his feet.

Demitri sighed. "Is there something _else_ the matter?"

Iori looked truly mystified. "He's here... but he's different somehow..."

"Oh, please. _Who's_ here?"

And the front door of Demitri's room exploded into purple fire.

* * *

**Outside Room 1891, RumbleDome Hotel (a few minutes earlier)**

The elevator door opened, and Ryu, Kyo, Liu Kang, and Galford spilled out, ready for anything.

They had expected hordes of enemy fighters drooling for their blood, or Demitri Maximov waiting for them doing...well, pretty much the same thing. (An imaginative crowd this ain't.) Seeing a wrecked hallway and three unconscious fighters was _not_ what they had in mind.

As he took in the scene, Ryu thought he saw a familiar shadow flit away out of the corner of his eye. But, he thought, the situation was tense, and he was probably imagining things.

"What hit this place, a bomb?" Galford said softly. Poppy, beside him, whined.

"It would not surprise me in the least," Liu replied. One of the bodies suddenly sat up, nearly getting its head blown off by three or four projectiles at once, and rubbed its head. It was Terry Bogard, who looked like he'd just been thrown through a gravel crusher.

"Are you all right, man?" Kyo asked, his voice cool. "We could use your help."

"Jus' gimme a sec' for m' head to stop ringin'..." he said sleepily. Liu Kang knelt beside him and inspected his head for anything serious.

"What happened?" Liu asked. "Don't try to move too fast; you might have a concussion."

"A concussion. Imagine that." Terry grimaced. "Well, there was Genjuro, he's right there - and there was Billy - and Akuma-"

"WHAT?" Ryu was across the hallway in an instant. "Akuma was here?"

"Yeh... but I think I got 'im." Terry looked around. "I blew him up... I smacked him right in the face with a Geyser."

Ryu frowned. "I wish I could believe that he was dead. I really do."

Terry stood up quickly. "Omigod... Mary..." He pointed at the door to Demitri's room. "She's in there. Andy told me Demitri was going to sacrifice her to the Dark Guy!"

"Her as well?" Ryu raised an eyebrow. "We were told he planned to do the same to Haohmaru."

"The loudmouth? Why?"

"_I_ don't fully understand. You can ask Ryo the next time you see him."

"Assuming we live through this," Liu muttered. When Ryu and Terry gave him dirty looks, he spread his hands and said, "Someone has to be realistic here. Did you think it was going to be him?" He pointed at Galford.

"The sacrifice of an innocent woman. Yet another crime for him to answer for," Galford said to himself, petting Poppy. Someone had pointed out exactly who was good and who was bad, and that they were threatening safety and peace. Galford was in his element. He unsheathed his sword. "Let's get him."

Terry nodded. "I see what you mean."

"So, we're gonna get Demitri?" Kyo asked.

There were nods of assent.

"Then why are we just standing here?" Kyo murmured. He called his flames to his hands, a shimmering purple cloud, and unleashed it at the door in a torrent, before anyone could say to do otherwise. With a loud battle cry, he ran through the hole he had just made, flinging violet fire everywhere.

_Wait a minute,_ Terry thought. _Kyo should be using orange flame. No one uses purple flames but..._ "Uh, oh," Terry said aloud.

And then things got very hectic.

* * *

**The Ring**

Dhalsim had convinced most of the ring to leave him alone at that point, usually by setting those who challenged him on fire. He floated in midair, meditating on what might be learned from the debate with Kuroko a few moments ago.

King, however, was in no mood for it. It had been a bad day for her so far. She was in the final seven. That wasn't as good as it sounded; it meant she was in for some of the hardest fights she'd ever seen. Secondly, she was at ground zero of a plot that threatened the entire Multiverse. _That_ pissed her off to no end. Finally, she was in the ring with noted pyromaniac Dhalsim, her flame-retardant tuxedo was still on back order, and she did _not_ plan to have the entire viewing audience see her underwear, thanks all the same. At least she could do something about that last one, though.

As she crept up behind Dhalsim, King raised her hands to beat him over the head, when he flickered and disappeared.

"Oh, no...I _hate_ this trick-" WHAM! As she'd expected, she got hit in the back and knocked to her knees. Turning around, Dhalsim was about halfway across the ring, and in the midst of throwing another punch at her.

As it came, King smoothly sidestepped it, and hit Dhalsim with a Double Strike. "Catch me if you can, slowpoke!" she jeered. The monk frowned, and teleported to her other side. She was waiting for that, though, and slammed into him with a Tornado Kick as he appeared. Both hits connected, and he fell.

"Come on, get up," she said, bouncing from heel to toe, throwing punches and kicks in the air.

"Do not be so eager, young one. I will be there in time." Dhalsim flickered and disappeared again. Before King could react, he had already booted her in the back of the skull. With a series of jabs, he drove her backward before pausing slightly. As King rushed in for a retaliatory strike, the air darkened and he took in an enormous breath. King recognized what he was doing, from watching him fight at the Dream Tournament, and got... somewhat upset.

"Oh, NO YOU **DON'T**!" As Dhalsim began to let the breath out, King punched him in the mouth. Suddenly, his throat bulged, as something that had been on the way up suddenly reversed direction.

_gulp_

Suddenly, Dhalsim looked _very_ uncomfortable. Smoke began to gently drift out of his ears. He coughed, once, and a small tongue of flame popped out.

"Man, I hope he doesn't explode," Birdman said.

Wanderer was amused. "I'm guessing that's not because of the fact that he'd be dead?"

"Nope. That'd only last fifteen minutes, after all. I was thinking of the cleaning bill."

The point became academic a moment later, for Dhalsim began to visibly sweat. "Water," he squeaked. "I need water..."

"Sorry. All I have is Scotch." King booted him over the "ropes," and smiled in satisfaction.

"Well, folks, let's see if he can find water in the node he lands in!" Birdman tuned the audience's monitors in to the DimensionCam, and saw...smoke. He tapped the screen a few times. The smoke remained.

"Great. I think the Cam's busted. Remind me to tell Brant to work on the wiring in here." However, as he spoke, the cloud began to slowly disappear, to reveal a strange mechanical area that looked like nothing so much as an empty aquarium. Robotic fish wiggled impotently, unable to move without water. Deadly-looking spikes covered the walls. Finally, there was Dhalsim, lying on his back in the middle of it all. The monk let out a sigh of contentment; as he did so, a long streamer of smoke drifted out of his mouth.

"What the hell node is that?"

Wanderer looked up. "Mega Man 2, looks like. And there's..."

Bubble Man was pissed off. "You inconsiderate wretch! How **dare** you barge in here and evaporate all my water, and you don't even have the decency to **apologize**?!"

Dhalsim ignored him.

* * *

**Room 1672, RumbleDome Hotel**

Kim Dragon turned on the water in the tub as cold as it would go and let it run over the unconscious Rikuo. Moving slowly, trying to mind his wound, he walked out of the bathroom and into the hotel room that he'd broken into.

On the two beds lay King and Lei Wulong, wrapped in wet towels. A heavily bandaged Sie Kensou was lying on the couch. Finally, on the floor on top of a number of blankets, there was...

"What's the situation, bub?"

Kim jumped about a foot in the air, and came back down clutching his wounded side. Wolverine, looking guilty, helped him back up.

"Sorry. I thought Storm'd told you; I heal real fast."

"I must have missed that." Kim groaned as he straightened up. "Ryo and the rest went up already, and left me to watch over the wounded. They didn't really have the time to lug us around."

"Figures. One of the biggest flamin' scraps ever, and 'Roro leaves me behind." Wolverine looked around. "Are you gonna be okay, kid?"

"Should be. Are you going somewhere?"

Apparently, it was a stupid question, judging from the glare he got. Wolverine headed for the door, but stopped right before he got there, sniffing the air.

Wolverine quickly opened the door, and walked out into the hallway. Kim heard him say "Somethin' I can help ya with?"

Then, in a low-pitched voice that almost seemed to gurgle, "Oh, no..."

"Get 'im!" Kim recognized that voice, Jack's, and started to hobble out the door.

Kim staggered out to see Wolverine fighting with Gen-An Shiranui. Wolverine, not surprisingly, was winning, despite the fact that he'd turned a shade of purple not unlike that of a grape. This was because Gen-An was frantically throwing Poison Blizzards, which, due to Wolverine's healing factor, weren't doing anything more than irritating the hell out of him.

And irritating Wolverine is a Bad Idea. Jack had found that out. He'd figured he could just sneak around to the mutant's side while Gen-An had him occupied, and claw him until he fell over, but Wolverine simply Drill Clawed backwards, slashing him repeatedly, and advanced on Gen-An with murder in his eyes.

Jack got to his feet, and, being something of an idiot, tried to sneak up on Wolverine again. Despite his wound, Kim kicked Jack in the back of the neck, knocking him to the floor. The claw-wielding maniac tried to get up, but Kim stomped on his head and put him out.

While the combatants were occupied, two things of some importance happened:

Firstly, a man staggered out of Kim's hotel room, and towards the elevators. He stumbled and fell, catching himself on the doorjamb, and grunted in pain. It didn't matter. Nothing mattered to him, except what he had to do. Clutching something to his chest, he pulled himself along the wall, and punched one of the elevator buttons. As Wolverine and Kim Dragon finished Gen-An off, the doors opened and he collapsed into the car.

Secondly, the temperature had begun to slowly rise. Before he'd left, Charlie had made it a point to truss the unconscious fighters up as best they could and lock them inside various hotel rooms. However, one of them could not be tied up, and they'd settled for letting Sasquatch Ice Laser it and throwing it into a room with the air conditioning set at forty degrees. Now, in response to Demitri's psychic summons, the ice imprisoning it began to melt even more quickly.

"All right, bub-" Wolverine grabbed a barely sensible Gen-An by the tunic and pulled him up, "-where were ya goin'?"

"...I was... getting to... Demitri's... room... he's almost done with the ritual..."

"Thanks." Wolverine slammed Gen-An into the wall hard enough to make the plaster crack, and the goblin slumped over. "You comin', Dragon?"

Kim nodded. "I've done all I can for the wounded. I won't be much help, I fear, but I can't just wait here."

Wolverine clapped him on the back. "You got guts, kid. Let's get-"

Both of them felt heat against their backs, and both of them instinctively ducked as what appeared to be a comet burned through one of the doors and streaked upward, through the ceiling, melting its way through the floors of the Hotel one by one, leaving a path of devastation behind it.

Fortunately (unless one happens to be the one paying for the repairs), the design of the Hotel is fairly utilitarian; on the way up and through the hotel, all the comet struck were hallways, mostly empty at this point since almost everyone was down in the 'Dome watching the Rumble. The lone exception was the Rumble's delegation from Fire 'N' Ice, half of whom enjoyed being hit with such a spectacle. The other half were found after the Rumble, slightly melted, cowering in an ice machine and asking if the 'big fiery scary thing' was gone yet.

Kim swallowed hard. "I guess Pyron woke up."

"Good. I owe that thing a bucket of hurt." Wolverine looked back into the room as he moved to close the door. "Wait a minute. Weren't there four people in here?"

Kim walked over to the door. "There were." He slammed his fist into the wall. "King's gone."

* * *

**Room 1891, RumbleDome Hotel**

Sheets of purple flame raked across the room as Demitri's slaves and allies dove for cover. Furniture burned to cinders in seconds. The wet bar in the corner started to sag and melt, the bottles stacked against the wall behind it exploding one by one like they'd been shot. Even Demitri, standing near the back of the room, was taken aback by the raw fury of the attack. In the middle of the holocaust, Kyo Kusanagi, his hair and clothes blowing in an invisible wind, brought down a seething wall of heat upon anything moving that caught his eye.

Standing stock-still in the center of the room, his own mastery of the Source barely beating back Kyo's, was Iori Yagami, whose main occupation at the moment was attempting to get his jaw back onto his face. This... this was like something _he'd_ do. He never would have expected it from Kyo, not in a thousand years.

"How can anything control that kind of power?" Liu whispered.

"Who cares? Just be glad he's on _our_ side! " Galford bounded past them all, and cheerfully barreled into the midst of a knot of the enemy comprised of Neo-Dio, Ganryu, Cyclops, and Wolf Hawkfield, laying about him with his sword. Poppy jumped right in after him.

For the second time in a minute, Liu Kang was astonished. "Remind me to ask Nakoruru what she puts in his food."

Terry nodded. "I want to be there when you ask. I want some of it."

Then, Ryu ran past both of them. As he went, Kuma stepped into his path, and Ryu Hurricane Kicked the bear out of his way without missing a beat. Ryu knew what he wanted; the biggest challenge in the room. Demitri.

Liu and Terry looked at each other, shrugged, and ran after Ryu. As the Shotokan came near, Demitri smiled, and quietly teleported away. Ryu was forced to backpedal before a combined assault from Sub-Zero, Fulgore, and Mai Shiranui. Terry and Liu retreated with him.

The room immediately became a textbook example of trench warfare. Ordinarily, it would have resembled a nice, ordinary street fight, like what usually happened when one or more of the people in this room got together. Unfortunately, the strategy of the slaves was based around keeping Demitri's person unmolested (the fact that Demitri wasn't there at the moment didn't really matter). Therefore, whenever Ryu, Terry, or any of the others tried to close in for a fist-fight, they would inevitably get smacked away with a fan, an Optic Blast, a Soul Fist, Psycho Shots, a piece of scorched furniture, or any of the nine or ten other ways that their enemies had to fight at a distance. Inevitably, then, they retreated to around the doorway, and found cover of their own. Liu Kang and Terry did, anyway; with the sheer amount of fire he had suspended around him, Kyo didn't need to worry about it, and Ryu and Galford didn't seem to care. (That whole 'hero thing,' don't'cha know.)

As a purple wave of flame exploded against the wall behind her, Morrigan gritted her teeth. Demitri hadn't been gone for more than a couple of minutes, and the situation had already become idiotic. Reaching out to the mind of Psylocke, she exorted her slave to fry Kusanagi's mind before he killed them all. She put her fingers to her forehead and concentrated. "His mind is dark. There's nothing really that I can comprehend except... chaos. Absolute... chaos. It's... too much..." Psylocke's eyes glazed, and she keeled over.

"I always knew telepaths were overrated," Morrigan grumbled. Popping up from behind her cover, she fired a Soul Fist at Ryu, who responded by glowing slightly and countering her missile with a Shinkuu Hadoken. The Hadoken overwhelmed her Soul Fist and struck her head-on, slamming her backward and wrecking a nice Edward Hopper print that had somehow remained untouched.

From his new position in the room, inside one of the ventilation ducts, Demitri surveyed the situation. While he figured his damage deposit was well and truly gone, it would seem that Morrigan had the situation well in hand. Despite the fact that Kusanagi had levelled the playing field, neither him nor his allies (and why were they here now? How many fighters had Sakazaki rallied?) were making any more headway.

There was no reason, though, to leave the would-be heroes alive for too much longer. Thinking quickly, Demitri sent Kyo's mind a slight suggestion to look his way.

When Kyo did, their eyes met, and his mind was the vampire's to toy with.

* * *

**The Ring**

Chun Li was finally gaining an advantage over Jacky. She'd thrown a Kikoken from long range, and as he'd rushed in for it, she'd concentrated, and caught him in a Kikosho. This unexpected tactic bought her time to elbow-slam him to the ground. As he got up to deal out another combination, Chun, sure she couldn't take any more punishment from him, reflexively jumped up into a Super Chaos Kick, slipping kicks underneath his jaw with astonishing speed and force. Jacky flew into the air, up and over the "ropes."

Jacky landed in Super Mario Kart, directly into Bowser's unoccupied vehicle. Bowser was a short distance away, eating what appeared to be chicken flambe out of an open lunch box. Jacky shook his head, and began to get out of the car.

"Hey! That's mine! THIEF!" A firebolt flew past Jacky's face, and he almost reflexively slid back down into the driver's seat.

Jacky decided at that point peaceful negotiation would be more trouble than it was worth. Looking around, he found the clutch, downshifted, and gunned the motor, heading away from the Koopa King as fast as the stolen car would take him, dodging firebolts as he went.

As Chun Li landed, she saw Guy, a Mega Smash hitting him in the chin. The Bushitsu fighter went down, and was HaohShoKohKened as he got up, pushing him back towards the ropes. Kuroko wound up; his next blast would probably eliminate Guy.

Chun thought for a split-second. Did she want to save Guy to fight him later, or let Kuroko eliminate him and fight Kuroko later? She decided to go with the fighter she knew, and jumped into the judge, her feet leading. Unfortunately, Kuroko saw her shadow as she jumped, and turned in time to block the whole combination.

"So, you're double-teaming me, are you?" Kuroko whispered. "Such a flagrant violation of the rules can only be answered in one way!" Apparently, that was with a Kaiser Wave at _very_ close range. As a result, Chun flew into the electric "ropes"-all the way across the ring-and stuck there, an electric web of current holding her aloft.  
Kuroko took the opportunity to fling a number of Kohkens her way, while she was unable to block them. This did nothing for Chun's comfort level.

However, Kuroko had forgotten someone. Guy shook his head and stood. As Kuroko, sensing him, turned slightly, Guy was already somersaulting through the air, over Kuroko's frantic barrage of fireballs, and came down directly in front of him without attacking, an expression of rage on his face. This was, apparently, so he could demonstrate to Kuroko every throw, punch, kick, dash, and slam he knew.

"Don't you feel like you should be taking notes?" Wanderer asked the audience at large, watching the spectacle of Guy pounding the bejesus out of Kuroko. "I mean, this is like a Bushinryu correspondence course..."

"That's a rhetorical question, right?" Birdman murmured.

"Yup."

"Projectile-" WHAM! "-abusing-" THUD! "-flag-" CRACK! "-waving-" CRUNCH! "-no-" WHAP! "-talent-" BAM! "-less-" WHACK! "-skill-" SNAP! "-rules-" POW! "-lawyer-" WHAM! "-PUNK!" Finally, Guy concentrated, began trailing blue shadows, and ripped into Kuroko with a Bushin Rampage; just in case the judge hadn't gotten the point yet, Guy caught him, once he was on his feet, with a Bushin Jump. The two subsequent Super Combos put Kuroko out of consciousness and the ring.

* * *

**Another World, 1999 A.D.**

The earth cracked, a fine web of red cracks overlying the green and giving rise to an enormous bug-like creature, rising out of the earth like some demon out of the mystical past.

In the nearby air, there was a sudden bright flash and a snap as a white jet snapped into existence, one which contained three very special people.

Crono turned around. "Are you two ready?"

Marle swallowed hard. "Let's do it."

Frog nodded. "For Queen and country."

"All right!" Crono pushed the accelerator to the floor, then found himself holding onto the controls for dear life; neither Robo or Lucca had mentioned how difficult this thing was to drive at high speeds. (Maybe he should have asked one of them about it before trying this stunt...nah. Why worry them?) In the co-pilot's seat, Frog had his hand on the medal he wore around his neck. The knight seemed to be praying. Both were trying to ignore Marle shouting directions from the backseat. Finally, he yelled, "Listen, _you've_ never driven one of these either, so be quiet!"

As he did that, though, the Epoch rocked with a sudden impact as something hit the windshield with enough force to splinter it. Marle screamed again, and the 'something' in question, which was wearing a black bodysuit and, for some reason, carrying a pair of flags, screamed back at her. It was a toss-up as to who was more scared. Crono completely lost control at that point, and the time machine/jet went veering towards the ground.

Crono swore. "So much for ramming Lavos. Let's get outta here!" He grabbed his sword from the side compartment and jumped out the rear cargo hatch. Frog followed immediately, although he had to stop and grab Marle.

As they jumped, the Epoch, with Kuroko perched on front of it, veered straight into the a'birthing Lavos, exploding into its shell with a definitive CRUNCH! Lavos clutched itself around its new wound, letting out an enormous scream of pain.

* * *

**The Ring**

"And, in case you hadn't noticed, our techs say Kuroko wound up in Chrono Trigger, folks." Birdman's tone was dry. "That's gotta be one of the more spectacular exit scenes tonight."

Wanderer couldn't speak. He was laughing too hard.

* * *

**Room 1891, RumbleDome Hotel**

Terry ducked and weaved through the flood of projectiles suddenly swarming at the heroes. He noticed Kyo was just standing still. The tidal waves of purple flame had ceased, and, the major threat gone, Morrigan and her 'troops' were making up for it in spades. Taking advantage of a lull in the projectile volley, Terry quickly Crack Shot himself at the approaching Mizuki, who obligingly fell down. Terry, now close to Kyo, tapped him on the shoulder hurriedly.

"Yo! Bud! We could use you here, being outnumbered three to one and all!"

Kyo grimaced slightly. "Burn..."

"Huh?"

"BURRRRRRRRN!" Huge gouts of the Source, even in comparison to before, suddenly crackled from Kyo's hands. Terry threw himself out of the way just in time to avoid being fried. Galford, however, wasn't expecting an attack from a comrade, and was staggered by a second blast of the Source. Kyo then proceeded to raze about half the room, friend and foe alike, and Galford was only able to survive by using the now-famous 'log trick.'

Terry blinked. "Oh, _crap_..."

From his perch, Demitri smiled.

* * *

**Hundred and Eighty-First Floor, RumbleDome Hotel**

Donovan walked down the hallway without any fear at all. "We haven't heard anything too noisy yet. Hopefully, that means that Charlie's been able to make it through anything Demitri's got planned without a hitch."

Iceman glanced nervously around. "How much of that do you believe, man?"

"Almost none," Donovan said comfortably, "but it makes me feel better."

Behind them, Dan Hibiki and Robert Garcia were talking quietly. Both of them had an odd compulsion to find out about the other's background, just so they, if no one else, would know that they weren't the same person after all.

"So, you're getting married, man?" Dan whispered.

"Yeah, but we haven't set a date or anything yet. I gave her a ring, but she never wears it; says it'd break the first time she hit somebody." Robert's voice had dropped down until Dan could barely hear it.

Dan had noticed that talking about her seemed to cause Robert pain. "What's wrong? Is she okay?"

"Demitri's probably got her by now..."

"WHAT?!"

Donovan and Iceman turned around quickly, ready for anything. "What is it? What's wrong? Vampire? Mutant? Monster? Muay Thai? What?"

Dan simply said, "Demitri's got Yuri Sakazaki."

Donovan frowned, then his eyes widened. "Your fiance? I fought with her in the ring. She's really very good..." Robert's head snapped up, an angry expression painted across it. "A good fighter. She's a good fighter. Relax. Why didn't you say anything?"

"She's Ryo's sister. He's got enough on his mind without me adding that to it." Tears streamed down Robert's face. "And we're gonna get her back if I have to kill Demitri myself."

No one had anything to say to that. They continued walking, covering the next three floors without incident.

"And here's my room," Robert murmured, as they passed by room 1842.

"How can you afford that?" Dan asked.

"Ah, my family's got money. Figured I'd treat myself to a little comfort this time around." Robert leaned against the door a second. "Maybe they'll let me stay here for a while after the Rumble-what the hell?" The door gave at his touch, swinging open. He looked up at the rest of them. "I didn't leave it unlocked."

Donovan drew Kilshred. "We'd better check it out. There are some kinds of magic that need a possession of the target; maybe they're trying to slow us down by striking at you."

Robert let the door open slowly, without creaking. His suite was impressive; the carpeting, a rich maroon color, set off the mahogany furniture well. Next to the door, there was a small kitchen with a wet bar and well-stocked refrigerator (due to the Rumble's promotional deals, there were a large amount of Jell-O products); next to it, they could see into the bedroom, which would have been very nicely decorated if not for Robert's clothes thrown all around. A fully equipped entertainment center took up much of one wall, and another wall was a single pane of glass, facing towards the ring. There was a spectacular sunset that none of them could appreciate, because Yuri Sakazaki was tied to a chair in the middle of the room. Her head slumped on her chest.

Robert whispered softly, "Yuri..." and ran in.

The furniture had been pushed back against the walls in a fashion that made it look like it had been the original setup of the hotel's designers. Apparently, it wasn't; Clark and Joe Higashi hopped into view from behind the couch, Joe Slash Kicking Robert as he did so.

As Robert went down, Joe jumped in to kick him again. In mid-air, though, he was frozen into modern art by-come on, guess-Iceman. Unfortunately, the icy coating melted almost immediately when Donovan set Clark on fire. Janne and Brocken sprang out and joined them a moment later, pelting Donovan and Dan with missiles (_real_ missiles) and Angel Arrows. Donovan knew the signs to look for; they had all been enslaved by Morrigan or Demitri. As he slashed Brocken across the chest, he devoutly hoped that Demitri hadn't been all _that_ paranoid...there were a lot of people he could have enslaved by now...

Across the room, Robert executed a Kick Dance, sending Joe headlong into the kitchen, and turned around to free Yuri. Directly in front of him, though, there was a small explosion, and robotic body parts flew together to form Cyrax. As it assembled, it wrapped Robert up in an Electric Net; before he could break free, Smoke streaked up from the floor and dealt him a powerful uppercut.

In the brig, a hundred and ninety floors below, Shao Kahn suddenly yelled "**OUTSTANDING!**"

Rugal looked at his cellmate. "Oh, shut up."

"Dan!" Donovan yelled.

"Yeah!"

"Get Brocken off of me! We need to free Yuri!"

"Gotcha, Dad!"

"WHAT?!"

"Sorry! You look like him!" Dan jumped into Brocken, connecting three times in midair with a Gale Kick.

Shaking his head at the "dad" comment, Donovan swung Kilshred in an enormous arc, ignored the sickening shear as it hit Janne in her side, and brought it down on the back of Yuri's chair, crushing it and snapping the ropes. Yuri collapsed to the floor, and Donovan immediately knelt down next to her and shook her.

"Lemme sleep, Dad... katas wear me out..." She was badly bruised, and there were fresh bite marks on her neck and wrists, but Donovan didn't sense any vampiric taint on her. Yuri still had her free will.

"Wake UP, girl! We need your help-" Donovan looked up. The wall behind the stereo system seemed to be bulging in a way that walls typically did not. That, he decided as a large hole appeared, was probably because Zeus was punching his way through it to get at them.

He looked around at his forces. Dan had Janne and Brocken under control, but neither of the others were as lucky. Robert was swinging madly at Cyrax and Smoke, who were alternating between netting and harpooning him. Iceman was trying to deal with both Joe Higashi and Clark with limited success; every scrap of experience the X-Man had was barely compensating for their relentless assault.

Zeus finished off the wall, and saw the hunter standing in the middle of the room, sword ready, looking at him. He roared at Donovan, "Prepare to die, little man!"

"Giant, I wish I could argue with that." Donovan leaped.

* * *

**Hundred and Seventy-Eighth Floor, RumbleDome Hotel**

Stryker glanced at Charlie. "You know, if you say that it's 'a little too quiet' one more time, I'm gonna kill you."

"I'm sorry, okay? This reminds me a little too much of Vietnam, is all."

"Just don't be surprised when it happens."

"I'm appreciating the quiet, myself," Matrix grumbled. "It's giving my ears time to heal."

The three of them, Kung Lao, and Jeffry were moving through the latest floor's worth of luxury suites. The carpeting was thick enough that their feet sank into it, the light fixtures were gold-plated, the air smelled of sandalwood and room-service food, and faint classical music played from the overhead speakers. It made them feel kind of bad, as Matrix had pointed out, that they were fundamentally there to wreck the place.

Stryker, in the lead, went around the last corner before the stairwell quickly, his gun first covering the floor and leading up to the head level. "We're clear!"

Charlie nodded. "Good. We've got about another ten floors to go, though, so we still need to be careful. There's still probably an a-WOULPH!" Sektor streaked up from the floor in an uppercut, shimmering in its teleportation effect, nearly breaking Charlie's jaw.

"Targets acquired! Targets acquired!" it boomed, and doors flew open up and down the hallway, disgorging Lord Raptor, Shura, Erick, Pai Chan, Ralf, and, most worrisome, Duraal. Charlie and his group were surrounded.

"Get 'em, boys! I got a bright shiny nickel for the first one a'ya to bring me a head!" Lord Raptor charged into their midst, cackling his high, screechy, Crypt-Keeper-esque laugh all the while.

"I think we might have a slight problem," Kung Lao murmured. He ducked under Ralf, grabbed the soldier by the shoulders, flipped completely over, and threw him down the hall. However, while he was doing that, Kung left himself open, and Shura took full advantage.

Jeffry stepped in front of Pai. "Pai! It is me, Jeffry! Why do you stand with these bad people-" Then, Jeffry saw the bite marks on her neck. Unfortunately, Jeffry being Jeffry, the significance of this didn't register in time for him to avoid getting crescent kicked.

"Inventive, aren't they? This is practically the same ambush!" Matrix yelled, jumping over Lord Raptor as he rushed her. Said rush wound up costing the ghoul an arm-which he promptly put back on. As Bishamon had said earlier, it's very difficult to dismember Darkstalkers...

Stryker yelled back, "Yeah, but this time, it worked!" As Duraal came up to him, Stryker put about half a clip into the robot's chest. Duraal had no visible reaction. "Uh-oh..."

Charlie quickly judged the situation. "Form a circle! Back to back!" If he was going down, Charlie reasoned, he was going to make it cost the other side dear...

* * *

_Original Authors_

Chris "Birdman" Bird  
Thomas "Wanderer" Wilde


	29. Section 15 - Results

**Section Fifteen - Results**

**Room 1891, RumbleDome Hotel**

The world was violet fire.

Or so it seemed to Kyo Kusanagi.

All around him, he saw enemies: twisted soldiers out of nightmare; those who he'd fought in the past, their honor or their friendship gone and replaced with hate; Rugal, cybernetic eye glowing the sharp red of fresh blood; Iori, his hands clenched into c laws and sparking with their own flame; worst of all, his father stood among them. Saishu didn't attack his son, but instead merely watched Kyo fight with the self-satisfied expression of someone seeing his own prophecy fulfilled.

Kyo screamed, and burned them all. The Source ran from his hands and eyes in a river, engulfing his enemies and reducing them to little more than ash silhouettes. But like lemmings, they kept coming, kept multiplying, and Kyo was forced to draw even more of the Source to combat them. He was already past his usual limits; the sensations the Source produced in him were enough to distract him from the fact that he was being twisted in the Dark Source's image. Kyo had yet to notice that he was wielding purpl e flames, the same color as Iori's. All that mattered was killing his enemies before they could kill him.

Demitri smiled from across the room. All of this was, of course, his doing; the boy had already been close to completely succumbing to his dark side. All it had taken was a bit of a hypnotic suggestion, and voila; from his perspective, the world actually _was_ out to get young Kusanagi, and he reacted accordingly.

Most beautiful of all, the vampire himself and his minions were in little danger. While Demitri's slaves cowered, Iori Yagami stood between them and Kusanagi, deflecting Kusanagi's brute forces with hastily erected barriers of his own. While Iori's tap i nto the Source was smaller than Kyo's, even that relatively small amount was sufficient to counter Kusanagi's attacks. Barely.

This, amusingly, meant that Kyo's allies-Ryu, Terry Bogard, Galford, and Liu Kang-were also being dealt the most damage. They were skilled, but Kyo would wear them down eventually. It was only a matter of time before they fell.

Demitri's smile grew wider. "Things seem to be under control here."

"That is very easy for you to say," Iori growled through clenched teeth. Perspiration poured off his face.

Ignoring him, Demitri picked up Haohmaru under his arm and slung the cloth-wrapped bundle over the other shoulder. "Charlotte! We are leaving!"

She hurried over to stand by the vampire's side. Demitri then frowned at the cage which held Jon Talbain.

"You won't win," Talbain said. He no longer seemed as sure.

"That's not even an issue anymore, Jon. I might as well have won already. My only question is how and whether to take you with me so you may see my final triumph."

Bison leaped forward. "Do you need help, Master?"

Demitri sighed. There were some people who just didn't cope well with being enslaved. Demitri handed Bison the bundle (which squirmed weakly), then gestured with his head at the silver cage. "Pick that up and follow me. If you don't keep up, I'll throw y ou off the building." Demitri and Charlotte vanished.

"I'll keep up, Master!" Bison picked up the cage, and immediately learned some of the basics of werewolf handling when Talbain bit off a chunk of Bison's uniform. Soon, though, he disappeared as well.

* * *

**Balcony, Room 1891, RumbleDome Hotel**

Clustered around the window, Ryo and Jago/Doom watched Yoshimitsu work. The robot scanned Demitri's room quietly, occasionally making a _ping!_ sound as some crucial amount of data reached his attention. Despite the flashes of heat and light from within Demitri's quarters, Yoshimitsu remained eerily still. Fortunately, Kyo's pyrotechnics kept the attention of the room's inhabitants away from the window.

Suddenly, the robot straightened. "We are GO, Alpha-Charlie!"

Jago/Doom studied Yoshimitsu as if he were looking through a microscope. "I trust you have good news to report...?"

"The Yoshimitsu 2000 comes prepackaged with a handy Time-Space Warp Detector! This unit is capable of tracking the departure and arrival of teleportation fields within 5000 feet!"

Ryo looked blankly at Yoshimitsu, then at Jago/Doom. "What did he just say?"

Jago/Doom chuckled. "The robot is saying that it can find Demitri, assuming the vampire teleported somewhere within a mile of here. Since you mentioned it, I trust you have located him?"

"Affirmative! Target designate DEMITRI has used a teleportation field to shift his form and that of secondary target designates CHARLOTTE and HAOHMARU within the illusion of three-dimensional space to that location roughly corresponding to the top of thi s building. Target designate BISON has used a similar effect to shift himself and secondary target designate TALBAIN to the same point."

Jago/Doom translated for Ryo: "Demitri, Charlotte, and Bison teleported to the roof. Now all that remains to be done is to fly up there when Storm joins us."

Ryo's mouth compressed itself into a thin line. "Not yet."

"What?" Jago/Doom demanded.

"I'm not leaving Ryu and the rest alone in there. I should be able to deal with Kyo, no matter how crazy he is. I've got more tricks up my sleeve than usual myself."

"You are a fool, boy. Demitri threatens the entire Multiverse, and you wish to save a mere few?" Storm, carrying Heavy D!, set down quietly on the balcony behind Doom; the X-Man, who knew Doom, had an expression on her face like she'd eaten something bit ter. Sasquatch, held aloft by a small whirlwind that he had to himself, came up over the railing a moment later. "We are rapidly running out of time."

"We have all the time we need. I'm not leaving them to die. I couldn't live with myself like that."

"Idiotic. We have no-"

"There **is** no argument." Ryo fixed Jago/Doom with the most menacing glare he could produce; given that he was glowing with otherworldly power, that was saying quite a lot. A lesser man would have quaked before it, but Doom simply closed his mouth and turned towards the window.

Doom had suspected that something like this would happen sooner or later; he had battled the "heroes" of his own node for too long to think otherwise, though he had hoped that Sakazaki might see reason. He let the issue drop. Sakazaki's vain attempts to save his friends would draw attention away from Doom; surely, between his mystic knowledge and the martial arts encoded within the body he inhabited, he could find a way to win against Demitri...

Ryo took a deep breath, trying to ignore the little yammering voice in the back of his head ("You know what _you_ just did? You tried to stare down _Doctor Doom_! You're an **idiot**!"). "Is everyone ready?"

"As I'll ever be, man," D! said, speaking for the group.

"Then let's go."

Ryo shattered the window. Flame rushed out to greet him.

* * *

**The Ring**

"Stand up, warrior," Bishamon's voice echoed from underneath his helmet (or was that just the way his voice was?). "It is not fitting that I should fight you while you are on your knees."

Guy looked up at the samurai, sweat stinging as it ran into his eyes. He would have done exactly that-really-but his legs didn't seem to work. While the severe beating he'd favored Kuroko with had won him *major* points with the crowd, it had cost him what little remained of his strength. His body felt like one giant exposed nerve ending.

"You cannot stand?" Bishamon asked. "If you wish-" he extended his sword, "-I will allow you hari-kiri."

"Um, let me think about that for a moment..."

"Do I get a say in this, Bish?" the sword complained.

"No. Not even vaguely."

"Dammit, man, don't you think I should have *some* voice in who you're planning to gut with me? I mean, come on! I don't see *you* caking yourself in gore."

"He has a point, Bish," the armor observed. "No pun intended."

"Would both of you be silent?" Bishamon demanded.

An idea occurred to Guy. "Um, Bishamon...I think the sword's right."

"THANK you!" the sword replied. "See, Bish! *He* thinks I'm right!"

"Of course he does. He's trying to avoid getting eliminated."

"Be that as it may-"

The sword was interrupted by King driving her foot into the back of Bishamon's head. Bishamon, surprised, lost his grip on the blade; the sword went skidding across the canvas ("OW! OUCH! HEY!"). Bishamon, in his turn, fell over.

King turned away from him and cracked her knuckles. "So, anyway, Guy, like he was saying; it's nothing personal, but you're too high-profile to leave alone."

"Oh, I completely understand," Guy said sarcastically. The blood seemed to be returning to his legs; all he needed was a few more minutes. Judging from what he knew of King, though, it didn't seem that he was going to get that long. Chun Li lay semiconscious on the mat a few feet away; the Dome's monitors were currently showing an instant replay of King kicking the crap out of her.

King strolled over to Guy, and began to pick him up. As her hands touched Guy, there was a sudden rush of air as Bishamon's sword materialized next to her throat. Guy crab-walked backwards as King slowly straightened up, mindful of the razor edge at her neck.

"Would you care to challenge me to my face, honorless one?" Bishamon asked.

King started thinking *very* fast. "Um, what does the sword think about this?"

"Not this time, babe," the sword said softly.

"You know, Guy's getting his breath back while we're standing here arguing."

"Good. There is no honor in challenging the invalid."

"Could we deal with him first and then fight each other?"

Bishamon considered this for a moment.

Suddenly, Chun Li vaulted between them and Guy. "Before you deal with Guy," she said, "you will first have to deal with me." She sounded very sure of herself, despite the fact that she was obviously in a lot of pain.

Oddly enough, Guy thought, he felt no safer.

Bishamon and King exchanged a glance as Bishamon lowered his sword.

King shrugged. "Okay."

They hit Chun Li simultaneously.

* * *

**Cellblock Twelve, Security Offices, RumbleDome Hotel**

"Are you sure that Birdman won't find out about this?" Scott Johnson asked nervously. A small army of mechanical figures stood around him, none of which were any taller than his waist. He had come well-prepared with a precautionary force of fifty cyberpenguins, each armed with a Plasma Ejector (supplied for the Rumble courtesy of GENOM). "I don't really want to lose my job."

"I'll make sure he never hears a word of it," Brant Rogers assured him.

Both of them were incredibly calm, given the situation. Inside his cell, Omega Rugal, hands bound, all but visibly smoldered. Scott and Brant had made their position very clear to him; if he initiated hostilities, Rugal would instantly regret it. If the cyberpenguins didn't ventilate him, the pulse rifles on the security cameras (currently being aimed at various sensitive parts of his body by Akarui Hitori) would blow him into a fine mist. And, if Rugal somehow survived _those_, there was always the orbital laser.

It wasn't often Rugal found himself outgunned. He never liked it.

Brant walked into Rugal's cell. "So, anyway, Rugal, what were you doing fighting with Shao Kahn?" he asked conversationally.

"Settling a private score. It is none of your concern."

"I'm one of the organizers of this tournament. It's entirely my concern. There's no fighting permitted outside the ring. Period. If you had a grievance, you should have lasted long enough to deal with Kahn during the Rumble, much less gathered that large of a force and gone after him on your own. Do you get me?"

"Do not speak to me like that, worm. If not for your guns, I could kill you a thousand ways in the next five seconds. Two thousand, given time to plan."

"I know. That's why I have the guns." Brant sighed. "It's too bad you didn't feel like cooperating. Enjoy the trip back to your home node."

"What?" Rugal said blankly.

"Exportation is the immediate penalty for out-of-ring combat. Your possessions will be returned to you by the end of the Rumble, as well as the further details of your penalization."

Rugal's expression barely changed as the teleportation effect enveloped him.

Brant came out of the cell that Rugal had formerly occupied to see Scott Johnson conversing with a cyberpenguin. It had a notably larger head than most of its kind, and a pair of headphones were plugged into its left temple. Scott waved them around as he spoke.

"Are you sure that's what he was thinking?" Scott asked. "Absolutely?"

+The probabilities of him knowing that I read his mind are so small as to be unmeasurable, sir,+ the cyberpenguin replied. +Therefore, I am forced to maintain that this is the truth so far as he knows it.+

"We're in trouble." Scott turned to Brant. "The good news is that the experiment is a success. The Telepathic Cyberpenguin Unit works like a charm. The bad news is that the plotting we found out about is worse than we imagined. Demitri Maximov has Haohmaru, and is planning to sacrifice him by the end of the Rumble. Rugal didn't know all of the details, but apparently that'll give Demitri immense power. He'll practically be a god."

"Is that all?" Brant asked sardonically. He would have spoken further, but he was interrupted by a sudden sound, kind of like that which a log chipper makes while in operation, coming from the security offices. Immediately, one of the secretaries came screaming out into the hallway.

Brant watched her run away. "I don't even want to know."

A slightly drunk Misty John (Official Rumble Magic Authority) walked out of the office a moment later, shaking the remnants of a coffee table off of his leg. "Don't you ever answer your phone, Brant? I need to talk to you."

"That makes me nervous."

"I need you-oh, hi, Scott; you too-to come to my office. We have a big problem."

Brant stared at the mage blankly. "Another one?"

"What do you mean, _another_ one?" Misty John demanded. "This one I've got is bad enough! We don't need another one!"

Brant restrained an urge to start screaming. "I'll come to your office with you, as long as we don't have to teleport through a table to get there. Scott, someone has to tell Birdman about this-"

"Why me?"

Brant kept a straight face. "Because you're the man with the penguin. He won't fire you; I'll make sure of it."

"Well, when you put it that way..." Scott, cyberpenguins in tow, ran off to the elevators. However, at the halfway point, he slowed down and stopped as something caught his eye. "Oh, dear. Um, Brant...?"

"What now?" Brant came up behind him.

"I _told_ you keeping all of our cameras on Rugal was a mistake," Scott said, gesturing towards the formerly-thought-indestructible bars of Cell A5. "Colossus has escaped."

* * *

**Rooftop, RumbleDome Hotel**

First one step. Then the next. Nothing fancy. Just one thing at a time. He was too badly hurt to think of anything beyond that.

The elevator only went up as far as the two-hundredth floor. Since then, he'd been gradually working his way up towards the rooftop. He didn't know why, but something deep within him had learned long ago not to question these impulses when he got them. T here was something which he needed to do here.

The door to the roof gave slowly when he touched it, swinging open to reveal a quickly setting sun. He took a moment to savor the sight; he wasn't at all sure when he'd see its like again. As quickly as he could, he moved around behind the small shack which held the door, once again without being sure as to why.

It was a good thing he had, however, because Demitri, Charlotte, Bison, and Talbain materialized in the center of the roof a moment later. The vampire immediately set Haohmaru down and began marking a pentacle around the ronin's prone body in chalk. Demitri's shadow cast a long line of darkness beyond him. Charlotte, her eyes closed, stood near him with a disturbingly blissful expression on her face.

"Soon," Demitri murmured, loud enough for the eavesdropper to hear. "Very soon."

"Not," the eavesdropper murmured, "if I can do anything about it."

* * *

**Room 1842, RumbleDome Hotel**

Donovan dodged, as Zeus' hand came down squarely on where he'd been standing. The room shook with the impact. Before Zeus could pull his arm back, Donovan swung Kilshred in a flaming arc, setting the giant ablaze.

As Zeus swatted at his burning leg, Donovan hurriedly turned back to Yuri Sakazaki. The girl, somehow, had managed to remain partially unconscious despite the din.

"Would you wake **UP**, girl?!" Donovan shook her roughly, and was rewarded by Yuri turning over and trying to burrow into the floor.

"Damn it, Yuri-" Donovan was reminded that there was an angry giant behind him. This reminder took the form of Donovan getting swatted into the kitchen.

Seeing this, Dan Hibiki leaped into Zeus' face. As had been remarked upon in the past, Donovan looked a great deal like Dan's father, who had been killed by Sagat all those years ago. Intellectually, sure, Dan knew that Donovan wasn't his father. But emotionally - that was another matter. And Dan was _not_ going to let his father die again. (Isn't Freudian psychiatry a hoot?)

Dan dodged around a kick that would have caved in his skull, and Koryukened Zeus to the floor. As the giant got up, Dan rolled underneath him to do it again.

Dan came up from the roll, and a hand fastened onto the front of his gi. Brocken then channeled a couple of thousand volts, through his extendable arm, into Dan; as that took effect, Janne raced at Dan with her sword held low. Dan noted woozily that she' d found time to replace her armor.

Suddenly, a fireball struck Brocken squarely, who, with his arm extended, was unable to block. The cyborg fell on its back, breaking contact with Dan, who, in turn, weakly tripped Janne up as she ran. Janne didn't fall so much as get launched into the air, slamming, sword first, into Zeus' leg.

The resulting scream of pain was loud enough to rattle the windows.

Across the room, Robert Garcia smiled, but paid for the inattention. Smoke, who Robert had thought unconscious, sprang up from the floor, sending Robert into the ceiling with the famous Mortal Kombat uppercut. As Robert fell, Cyrax wrapped him in an Electric Net, drawing Robert closer to it in preparation for yet another combo.

At that moment, Zeus, trying to extract Janne's sword from his leg (his task was made more difficult by the fact that Janne was still stubbornly hanging on to it), kicked out wildly. Janne was first flung into the ceiling, then, as her sword dislodged it self from Zeus' leg, fell flat on her face with an enormous clatter.

This finally woke Yuri up.

"All right, Daddy! Geez..." Yuri blinked twice and sprang to her feet; obviously, this wasn't her bedroom. Looking around, she saw Dan and Brocken fighting, Donovan coming out of the kitchen, Joe Higashi and Clark pummeling Iceman, Janne in a heap on the floor, and Zeus trying to stem the bleeding from his leg.

She also saw Robert being abused by the cyberninjas.

For Yuri, the rest of the room then ceased to exist.

"HAOHSHOKOHKEN!"

The massively overused fireball slammed into both Lin Kuei at the same time, violently blasting them away from Robert. Smoke and Cyrax went tumbling head over heels into the far wall, chunks of wiring and armor littering their path.

Robert ripped free of Cyrax's net. "Yuri! You're okay!"

"Of course I am, you stupid hunk of-"

They ran across the room towards each other, and Yuri caught Robert in a fierce embrace. All they could do was stand there and hold each other, wrapped up in themselves. Even though neither of them would ever admit it, they hadn't been at all sure whether they'd ever see each other again.

Romantic moment or not, Clark broke off from pounding on Iceman and took full advantage. Both of them were struck by half-a-dozen blows from his Vulcan Punch, sending them sprawling to the ground.

"Don't either of you know any better than that?" Clark sneered, advancing on them. "Truly, I'm touched-"

Dan saw this out of the corner of his eye. In front of him,  
Brocken dizzily climbed to his feet. Before the cyborg could get his balance back, Dan grabbed him by the front of his uniform, dropped to his back, and heaved upwards with his foot, sending Brocken flying through the air towards an unsuspecting Clark. Their heads met with a satisfying dropped-coconut _clonk_ sound, and both of them slumped senseless to the floor.

As Robert and Yuri looked to see where Brocken had come from, Dan shrugged and smiled. "Get a room next time."

Suddenly, Dan was jerked backwards as Zeus lifted him into the air.

"Love the ponytail, little man. It makes you much easier to grab." Zeus spun Dan around twice by his hair before slamming him into the floor. Boards cracked. As Zeus pulled Dan up over his head, Robert and Yuri hit him together, Yuri high, Robert low, throwing off his aim; rather than Zeus sending Dan flying cleanly through the window, Dan hit the wall to the window's side. Dan reflexively stuck his hands out in front of him before he struck; that alone saved him from a broken neck. As it was, he felt h is ribs and wrists give alarmingly as he fell away from the wall.

Meanwhile, Zeus was flagging badly against Robert and Yuri. They had fought Chang Koehan, and so knew exactly how to deal with someone of his size. Moving as quickly as they could, they constantly attacked Zeus in his blind spots. More often than not, Zeus would turn around to swing at an attacker, only to find his field of vision empty and yet another fireball slamming into the back of his head.

Finally, though, Zeus got lucky. Spinning around wildly, he slammed a size-60 boot into Robert, sending the smaller fighter sprawling. As Robert dragged himself out of the stereo cabinet, Zeus pressed one of his feet down on Robert's back and began laughing uproariously.

"Nice try, kid. But you can't beat me. Not even you and your girlfriend-" worlds of derision were packed in that one word, "-together. **Nobody** beats me-" Zeus realized something. He'd forgotten Yuri.

Yuri used that time to her best advantage. While Zeus was distracted, she concentrated, focusing every spare bit of chi she could find. A circle of power formed around her; the air about her hands and head began accumulating a cloud of energy not unlike static electricity. Her inner power reached its apex at the same time that Zeus turned around looking for her.

Zeus had one small moment of wondering what the hell Yuri had done to make herself start glowing before Yuri's feet became an indistinct blur, hitting against Zeus so rapidly as to appear as one enormous single strike. The HienHouohKyaku traveled up Zeus' body, the giant jerking around under its impact and generally looking like he'd invented a new dance craze. Kicking off of his face, Yuri backflipped into her ready stance, ready for the giant's retaliation.

Zeus' eyes were crossed, and the giant was teetering, but he remained on his feet; this meant, of course, that one of those feet remained on top of Robert.

His voice muffled by the carpeting, Robert screamed, "Get the HELL **OFF** ME! HAOHSHOKOHKEN!" Since Robert was on his stomach, the force of the Supreme Roar knocked the wind out of him and punched a ditch into the floor, but launched him off the ground like a rocket. Zeus, his balance now completely gone, teetered on one leg. Unfortunately, this was the injured one; it buckled under his weight, and the giant crashed to the floor, out like a light.

Now that he wasn't being double-teamed anymore, Iceman's situation had improved. Joe Higashi was considerably more skilled than he, and a great deal faster; however, the Muay Thai was only clad in a pair of loud shorts. When one is fighting someone who has absolute control over cold and ice, that's a really bad idea. After being coated in ice for the fifth or sixth time, Joe's skin slowly became an unhealthy shade of blue, and his teeth banged together like castanets.

"Had enough?" Iceman asked. To underwrite the question, a fist-shaped ice crystal about the size of a watermelon formed around his hand, and he held it back menacingly.

Joe nodded, although it was hard to tell if it was that or just him shivering. Iceman smiled at him, and gestured; shackles of ice appeared, binding Joe by his feet and hands.

As Donovan came out of the kitchen, he was confronted by Janne, who, although dinged up considerably, was ready for further combat. She slashed wildly, her broadsword a silver ribbon extending towards Donovan.

Without moving any more than necessary, Donovan parried it. Janne tried to push through his block, Samurai-style, but she simply wasn't strong enough to budge Kilshred.

"Imagine that," Donovan said with a faint smile. "Size _does_ matter."

If Janne had been in her right mind, she would have had a conniption fit. As it was, she broke off the clash of blades to try a different attack. As she drew away, Donovan grabbed her sword arm with his free hand and hit her between the eyes with his sword's pommel. Janne fell over, unconscious.

Unnoticed, Cyrax and Smoke warily got back to their feet. Both of their CPUs were sending warning messages to their brains; these messages used phrases, bad phrases, such as +40% operating efficiency,+ +imminent power core breach,+ and +self-repair systems indefinitely offline.+

Cyrax quietly submitted a message to his CPU: +Tactical evaluation?+

+Defeat imminent. Tactics negligible.+

Smoke, who had reached a similar conclusion, turned to Cyrax and said, "Requesting permission to engage final recourse programming."

"Permission granted."

Smoke turned back to face the room, and a pair of doors opened up in its chestplate. A series of small bombs, about the size of apples, fell out. Despite their size, each one held enough explosive power to devastate an area the size of Manhattan; as a collective blast, the dozen bombs Smoke carried were sufficient to destroy a planet, much less the RumbleDome. Smoke planned to use them all. The fact that the detonation of the node would prove inconveniencing to Smoke's current employers never crossed the robot's mind.

Fortunately for all involved, the bombs didn't explode.

"EVERYONE GET **DOWN**!" Iceman hadn't fought Magneto all these years without knowing a self-destruct attempt when he saw one. Extending his hands, he hit Smoke-and by association, the bombs-with a high-intensity stream of sheer cold, as close to absolute zero as Iceman could come without killing the other people in the room.

Smoke took the blast stoically, as befits a ninja of the Lin Kuei who's...well, who's in the middle of another move and can't block. The ninja, as well as its bombs, became suspended in a solid block of ice. The sheer cold caused most of Smoke's systems to malfunction, forcing a complete systems shutdown; the bombs, their manufacture dependent on the ability of their internal mechanisms to make a spark, didn't go off. Iceman, managing to sweat even underneath his icy "costume," breathed a sigh of relief.

Seeing Smoke's imprisonment, and seeing that Dan, Yuri, and Robert were occupied (Yuri was prying Robert out of the stereo cabinet), Donovan stepped over Janne's prone form and rushed at Cyrax. He didn't know much about the Lin Kuei, but he figured that if one of them got suicidal, they both would.

Cyrax threw an Electric Net at Donovan, but Kilshred cut it apart. Plan B: Cyrax tried to teleport away from Donovan. A small puff of smoke appeared around Cyrax's body, and the message +Teleport mechanisms indefinitely offline+ came flashing across its vision.

Something very like panic came over the cyberninja. It blocked an overhand slash with its forearm, and dropped a mini-bomb from its chestplate. Donovan looked down just in time for it to blow up in his face, sending him into the air, where Cyrax juggled him for a quick six hits before allowing him to fall to the floor.

Then, unexpectedly, Cyrax's internal alarm systems went berserk. A message flashed across the top of its field of vision at five-second intervals: +Warning: Self-destruct sequence initiated. Blast range: 60 yards. Destruction Range: total. All unsanctioned biological units evacuate area.+

Cyrax looked down; the control panel on its left forearm was neatly sliced in half, the result of blocking Donovan's attack. The large red 'panic button' underneath it flashed madly. All over the cyberninja's body, there were puffs of compressed air as its systems sealed off, paving the way for their own destruction; the bombs it stored in its chest were all ignited at once. Cyrax knew it couldn't override the destruct sequence, so it merely stood and awaited the inevitable.

Donovan looked up to see the robot standing in place and shaking wildly. Something within its chestplate was making a series of high-pitched beeping sounds like that of a warning klaxon. Donovan thought of the bomb he'd just been hit with, and those that Smoke had tried to release, and made a decision.

Before he could think about what he was doing, Donovan threw himself at Cyrax, tackling the robot and hurling them both out of the suite's window.

* * *

**The Ring**

"The question on everyone's mind, folks: how much longer can Chun Li keep this up?" Birdman said into his microphone. "She's put in five **very** impressive minutes against Bishamon and King, but she's starting to wear down fast."

"Question on _my_ mind is why she's bothering," Wanderer answered. "Even if she should somehow win, she'd still have to fight Guy, who's proved himself the meanest mother in the valley here tonight. Why doesn't she just let one of them eliminate him? It'd save her the headache."

"Well, you have to remember that she is from the same node as Guy; she may be going for a fight she knows she can win. Also, Guy looks _bad _down there. If she can win against King and Bishamon, Guy would be easily defeated."

"That's a big if."

"You know it."

Fortunately, Chun Li couldn't hear the commentary. She had her hands full. King and Bishamon, although neither of them meant to, were working in almost perfect synchronization. No sooner did she counter one than the other was suddenly upon her, and their styles of combat were so different that she didn't dare fall into a pattern. She was constantly improvising; the problem with that was, of course, that she was running out of tricks.

Chun Li canceled a Venom Strike with a Kikoken, moved forward to avoid one of Bishamon's flying flames, blocked King's Tornado Kick, and jumped over her to get out of Bishamon's range. As Chun Li moved out of the way, King made a dash at the still-unmoving Guy; Chun was forced to step back into Bishamon's range, flipping over King's head (and away from a vicious overhand slash) to land a knee strike to the bouncer's face. It was a dance.

Behind Chun, Guy pulled himself slowly up to his feet. Concentrating helped him push the exhaustion and pain away into some far corner of his mind; they were still there, but they were happening to someone else who lived somewhere far away. Standing, he hesitantly took one step, then another; he felt his strength slowly returning.

Chun Li blocked a slash with her bracelets, and immediately Alpha Countered; her crouching kick smashed into Bishamon's knee, sending him spinning to the canvas. As she turned away, she launched a Kikoken at King, who took it in the back of the head.

Guy took another step, and neatly scooped King out of her stumble forward. He turned her momentum around and sent her skidding across the canvas at Bishamon, who was just getting to his feet. The two went down in a tangle of sword, flames, and tuxedo.

Guy clenched his fists. Yeah. He could finish this. He smiled. "How you doing, Chun?"

"All things considered? I'm all right. How are you?"

"I'll know better in the future. Thanks, by the way. I appreciate the saves."

"Of course."

"Makes me kinda sorry I have to do this."

"What?"

Guy was a pragmatist, and he had fought Chun Li before. In his current state, he would have a lot of trouble beating her, if he could do it at all. As Chun Li spoke, he Rising Spin Kicked her out of the ring.

Chun Li landed on a busy street, in the middle of what appeared to be China. Boys rode by on their bicycles, hooting occasionally at her Lycra outfit. Standing across from her in the middle of the road, a Chinese girl stood watching her movements as Chun got to her feet. The girl had her hair up like Chun herself usually did, and wore the traditional uniform of a Chinese acrobat.

"Good morning! My name is Chun Li," the girl-woman, actually, now that Chun had heard her voice-said. "May I ask your name?"

"Um, my name is Chun Li, too, actually."

"Really? What are the odds of that?"

Birdman shut off the DimensionCam after that. "I don't know what a temporal paradox looks like, and I really don't care to, thanks all the same."

"Spoilsport," Wanderer accused.

Back in the ring, Guy, Bishamon and King formed the points of a triangle, each watching the other two. Guy had just about decided to rush Bishamon when, for the second time, a window shattered in the RumbleDome Hotel, and a figure-actually a pair of fi gures-came crashing out. One of the cameras faced the hotel now (after the incidents with Bison and Motaro a few minutes earlier, none of the television crews wanted to miss a potential ratings moment), and its cameraman focused in on them immediately, preserving their fall on film.

Unlike their predecessors, though, Donovan and Cyrax never reached the ground.

Halfway down the hotel, around the seventieth floor, the sun (by now almost completely below the horizon) rose again in place of the falling figures, drowning out the radiance of the 'Dome's halogen lights. When the light of the explosion faded, there was a gigantic smoking crater in the front of the Hotel, like a bite had been taken out of it.

Birdman, pale and shaking, hit the comm button, but Brant didn't answer. Birdman tried to reach Scott. He wasn't in his office either. Birdman, lacking anything better to do, had a fit. Wanderer watched him slowly turn purple and slump forward on the control panel.

_When in doubt_, Wanderer thought, _go with the truth_. Turning on his microphone, he said to the audience at large: "What in the _hell_ was that?"

* * *

**Room 1842, RumbleDome Hotel**

Robert, Dan, Yuri, and Iceman stood at the edge of the broken window, looking down at the blast crater. The smoke stung their eyes. Tears ran openly down Dan and Yuri's faces.

No one had anything to say for a long moment.

Finally, Robert cleared his throat. "Let's go."

Yuri slapped him. "How can you _say_-"

Dan put a hand on her shoulder. "There's something bigger going on here than just Donovan, Yuri."

She looked at Robert, who nodded. "We'll explain on the way upstairs. Hopefully, Ryo has Demitri on the floor by now." Robert's eyes narrowed. "In any case, when we get there, since I can't deal with Demitri, I'm going to settle for handing Morrigan Aensland her ass in a bucket."

* * *

**Hundred and Seventy-Eighth Floor, RumbleDome Hotel**

"DOWN, dammit!" Stryker grabbed Jeffry and pushed him to one side as the cop raised his Glock-18. Taking a brief portion of a second to make sure of the setting (full-auto), he aimed at Lord Raptor and pulled the trigger, sending a hideously quick spatter of rounds into the zombie's stomach.

Lord Raptor obligingly fell backward, but then looked up with a hideous grin and sat up, the bullets still in him.

"Friend Stryker! I do not think your gun is working!" Jeffry stopped his commentary as Dural advanced towards the otnay-ootay-ightbray Virtua Fighter. "Oh dear. Dural. Um. How do I beat you again...?" Jeffry mumbled as he blocked a punch-punch-kick-knee combo from the robot.

Stryker yelled, "Think of something! Anything! Quickly!" Erick advanced on him, but Stryker neatly hooked Erick's knees out from underneath him with his baton. The World Hero practically rushed towards the floor, bouncing twice.

Charlie, meanwhile, had his hands full. Back-dashing away from Sektor, he received a knee to the head from Shura, which staggered him into a kickflip from Pai. He went skidding away, which is better than it sounds, because this bought him some valuable space-at least it did until Sektor Teleport Punched him in the jaw.

Kung Lao, meanwhile, stayed one step ahead of Ralf. The soldier was an incredible fighter close-in, but at a distance, he was sorely lacking. He already staggered as a result of several nasty razor hat-induced cuts. As Ralf stumbled in and unleashed his Flaming Vulcan Punch, Kung Lao teleported out of its range. Ralf was left standing in place delivering a flurry of blows to empty air.

"Oh, hell. I have _got_ to get a missile-" Ralf felt a seven-hit combination hit him in the back. A loss of consciousness immediately followed.

_shink_ _CHIK_ **CHA-CHAK** Stryker, having reloaded his pistol, aimed for Raptor's head this time, but a stray kick from Duraal sent the gun flying.

"Damn! DAMN! Think of something, Jeffry!" Stryker grabbed a grenade and hurled it at Raptor's chest. The zombie batted it away easily, and it collided with Erick, who fell down again.

Jeffry, meanwhile, was blocking all of Duraal's attacks, his brow screwed up in concentration. "Um... no... no... oh, wait... no, not that either..."

Charlie's Flash Kick sent Sektor flying away after a failed Teleport Punch, but as he landed a jumping kick from Pai struck him square in the chest, stunning him, which left him an easy target for a DDT from Pai. He groaned once, then again as Pai's knee s struck his back.

Kung Lao dashed in and struck Pai with a diving kick, giving Charlie time to get to his feet without being further trashed. Unfortunately for him, he was busy throwing hats at Sektor when Pai recovered. Four kicks in rapid succession laid Kung Lao out for the night.

Stryker now fended off Lord Raptor's chainsaw legs with his baton, with little success. Little bits of wood were flying everywhere. "JEFFRY! Now or never...!" (Stryker reflected bleakly that the obvious answer there was "never".)

"Um... hmmm... no, that never works..."

Twin missiles streaked from Sektor's chest; one missed and blew up a portion of the wall, but the second homed in with unerring accuracy. Charlie dashed away from it, grabbed Shura, and tossed him over his back, squarely into the missile. Shura fell down in a heap of ragged Muay Thai mumblings. Pai, however, was just fine, and she demonstrated this with a chain of punches to the back of Charlie's neck.

Raptor's cold flesh was suddenly grasping Stryker's shoulders. A maggoty grin stared into Stryker's face, and Stryker could feel the tips of Lord Raptor's sharpened ribcage poking his gut in preparation for a goring.

"Hmmm... no... wait! Yes! I remember!" As Duraal lunged into another punch-knee combo, Jeffry blocked it, and then followed with a toe-kick. Duraal was momentarily staggered, but "momentarily" was enough for Jeffry to grab its midsection and powerbomb the thing down to the floor, then quickly stomp it once for good measure. Duraal shook a bit and was suddenly motionless.

As Duraal went down, a stray robotic hand came down between Raptor and Stryker, just breaking the contact. Stryker quickly took advantage of this and swept Raptor's legs out from under him with the remnants of his baton. Raptor rolled away quickly to join his ragged company of Shura, Erick, Pai, and Sektor, who had been beating the holy bejesus out of Charlie. The group of five regarded the pair of badly beaten warriors.

Raptor grinned once more, exposing his rotten gums. (Remember, kids, brush your teeth.) "Get 'em! We've got to kill 'em for the good of...well, we've gotta kill 'em!"

"SONIC BLADE!"

A series of four Sonic Booms suddenly pounded into the backs of the five. Most of them fell forwards in a clump. Shura stayed that way, sprawled on the floor.

Raptor was on his feet the quickest. Suddenly he realized the world was much darker than it should be. He looked up and saw Jeffry, descending butt-first.

_**WHAM**_

Jeffry stood up, brushing rotten flesh off the seat of his pants. "Ho! Friend Charlie! We shall beat them yet!"

As Erick staggered to his feet, he raised a hand to wipe sweat off his forehead. He suddenly realized that he didn't have that particular hand. Or the other one, for that matter.

"Looking for something?" Matrix, grinning widely, tossed him his missing arms.

Erick looked at his shoulders, then at the arms lying on the floor. Quietly, he keeled over in a dead faint.

Suddenly a pair of rockets slammed into Matrix's back, followed by a Teleport Punch. The enslaved fighters were up and kicking. Matrix stumbled forward, blindly chopping at Lord Raptor, but found herself falling victim to a nasty three-hit combo from Se ktor, sending her into one of Raptor's chainsaw legs. The subsequent goring caused her to pass out.

Charlie leaned back against the wall, almost totally drained.

"Stryker! Take Jeffry and get out of here! I'll hold them off!"

"But..."

"No buts! We don't have time!"

Jeffry staggered over to the entrance to the stairwell. "We must hurry! If we are late, we will not be able to stop the bad men!"

Stryker nearly fell backwards as he retreated, barely remembering to grab his gun before the two departed.

Charlie gamely assumed his fighting stance, but a fist in the back from Sektor was juggled into a combo from Pai, which in turn met a Death Hurricane from Lord Raptor. Charlie fell, senseless.

Sektor ran after Jeffry and Stryker, his robotic reflexes feeling little fatigue. However, as the cyberninja entered the stairwell, it failed to notice the small blinking package that had been stuck to the back of the door. As Sektor looked slowly aroun d to ascertain for itself that none of its enemies were waiting in ambush, the LED light on the package counted down, from 00:00:01 to 00:00:00.

Sektor's world vanished in a bright white light as the landing exploded.

Hearing the crash echo up the stairway, Stryker smiled. He just loved to hear them go bang.

Back in the hallway, the clouds of pulverized cement not bothering him in the least, Raptor surveyed his surviving troops; well, rather, he surveyed Pai. Ralf and Shura were unconscious, Duraal wasn't moving, and Erick was occasionally squirming and mur muring something about his arms. "Okay! This is how we do it! We'll take the lift and beat 'em up there, then when they arrive, we **SQUASH** the little buggers! They're barely standing anyway! HAHAHAHA!" He and Pai made for the nearest elevator.

* * *

**Misty John's Office, RumbleDome Hotel**

"You see, magickal emanations of this caliber," John said, his voice taking on a professorial tone, "only show up during certain procedures." His grid now glowed brightly enough to read by, the general radiance of the RumbleDome overpowering the smaller dots that represented the fighters. Only two lights, one on the roof of the hotel, the other in one of the luxury suites, retained their individuality; both were defying John's best attempts at identification. "One of them would be that someone is trying to protect us from some kind of oncoming invasion or attack. However, no terrestrial agency has the kind of power to shield the entirety of the 'Dome like this is doing. The 'Dome's too damn big. Also, there's the fact that I've been scanning the space outside this node, and there's nothing out there that would represent a threat; if something was going to attack the 'Dome, all schools of magick I'm conversant with would require they be that close to, if not actually inside, the node." John took a slug from the bottle of Scotch in his left hand. "The only other one I know, and the one that I'm afraid it is, is that someone or something is trying to transform the 'Dome into some other kind of node entirely."

Brant sat in John's chair, his own drink largely untouched. "What... what's capable of doing that?"

"I've already done the research. Nobody here, that's for damn sure. Any mortal who so much as felt this kind of power would burn out like a fifth-year grad student. Amakusa, who isn't strictly mortal, _might_ be able to pull this stunt, but he ain't here, he's technically dead right now, and I doubt he'd try it anyway. Doctor Doom... I don't know. He's definitely capable of doing this through technomagick, but I doubt that even he could completely transform a node without being here to govern the process, and my records show he teleported out of the node approximately fifty minutes ago."

John took another drink. "That leaves us with the immortals. Shao Kahn's locked up, and he'd need assistants to work magick on this scale. Shang Tsung isn't anywhere I can find him; I'm guessing he saw this coming and fled the node entirely. Mizuki is n either smart enough nor skilled enough to pull this off, and none of the Darkstalkers are mages in the strictest sense. Rose... Rose may or may not be mortal. Either way, she couldn't do this, and probably wouldn't if she could. Which leaves us with one option-"

"Don't say what I think you're going to say."

"-the Dark Guy."

Brant responded to this by finishing his drink, and holding his glass out for more.

After pouring, John pointed at the grid. "The center of the emanations appears to be circling around the base of the Hotel. The scary thing is that the node is starting to take on Dark Guy-esque characteristics. It's getting hotter, for one. Also, if anyone felt like it, it'd be a lot easier to summon demons or work necromantic magick. Fortunately, no one's done either yet." John finished the bottle.

"So, what do we do now?"

"Damned if I know," John said cheerfully. "We may have to abandon the node entirely. We don't have a clue what the Dark Guy wants, and quite frankly, if we did, I don't know if we could stop him. We don't have the anti-invasion safeguards to keep him ou t. If we survive this, I'd put that on the list of improvements for next year; hire a Virtual Adept or something."

"You brought me here, told me this, and then you tell me that _we can't do a damn thing?_"

John sat heavily into another chair. "That's not entirely true; we can wait. Have another drink, Brant." The mage's face was uncharacteristically sober. "This is probably gonna suck."

* * *

**Room 1891, RumbleDome Hotel**

Ryo didn't like to admit it to himself, but maybe Doom had been right. This could have been a very bad idea.

Kyo's fire was everywhere. It wasn't any stronger than it had ever been, but there was so much of it that even with Storm stirring up gale-force winds around he and his group, it came dangerously close. Morrigan and her slaves, the succubus' face white marble at seeing him, cautiously made strikes against them, adding to Ryo's discomfort. Soon, they'd be overwhelmed by sheer force of numbers.

Kyo turned entirely towards Ryo, ejecting another cloud of flame with a sweep of his arm. It got close enough to blacken Ryo's gi before Storm dispersed it. Kyo (in his delirium, he saw Iori block an attack) howled in anger. As he did so, the flames immediately surrounding him faded and died.

Seeing a chance, Galford charged Kyo, his ninja-to in his hand. The ninja didn't like what he was about to do, but desperate times called for equally desperate measures; Kyo couldn't be held back for long. He would apologize to the boy's friends and family, if he had any, later.

Kyo saw Galford come from out of the corner of his eye (to him, Galford looked like a black-armored warrior carrying a battle-axe), and didn't bother to turn, simply throwing a sparking wave of death across the floor at the oncoming threat. Obligingly, the warrior (and, in the real world, Galford) disappeared upon contact with the blast, leaving only a small pile of ash. The rich smell of woodsmoke filled the air as the "log trick" paid off again.

Galford reappeared above and behind Kyo, his sword held in both hands like a dagger, and fell upon the boy. His blade described an even arc down towards the base of Kyo's spine.

Ryo heard himself yell, "NO!"

Unfortunately, Kyo was beyond being fooled by such tricks; the primal destructive instinct that was guiding him reasoned that his target, not having been destroyed, was somewhere nearby. The purple flame hungrily reached out in every direction, consumin g what little furniture and carpeting hadn't already been destroyed. Storm's winds deflected what of it was heading for Ryo and company, while Iori Yagami barely saved Morrigan's side from destruction. Galford, with neither party protecting him, found himself falling directly into a rising geyser of flame, punching him upward and burning him to a crisp. He hit the floor with all the native grace of a brick, barely alive.

Ryo swore viciously, and came to a decision. As spectacular as Kyo's blast was, it had, once again, left him vulnerable for a few seconds; Kyo was handicapped by his utter inability to plan. For the second time, Ryo gathered all of the power available t o him within his arms, and aimed it straight for Kyo. It was even stronger this time; it felt like raw electricity was surging through his skin, like acid was burning him alive. He could have gotten used to it.

"SHINKUU..."

From the corner of his eye, Ryo saw Ryu and Terry's eyes widen. More disturbingly, he saw Doom nod in approval.

"...**HAOHSHOKOHKEN**!" A column of bright white force issued forth from Ryo's outstretched hands. Kyo's flames resurged, almost frantically, to defend Kyo against the blast.

There was a blast of multicolored sparks that lit up the room as the driving fires of Orochi met Ryo's enhanced power. Ryo proved the stronger a moment later; the Shinkuu HaohShoKohKen slowed, but didn't stop, scattering the flames before it. However, t he flames had, to Ryo's relief, saved Kyo's life. The kind of force that was powering Ryo could have punched a hole through a mountain, much less killed a man. Instead of being consumed by Ryo's burst, Kyo simply shot backwards abruptly, flying like a bullet into the wall behind him.

The room became very quiet for a moment after that.

Morrigan finally screamed, "What are you _waiting_ for, **you idiots**? GET THEM!"

Her slaves obeyed her command as best they could. Ryo grabbed Wolf Hawkfield as the wrestler rushed at him, and, keenly aware of the irony in the situation, tossed Wolf across the room. "Doom, you're with me!" Jago nodded and fell in behind him. "Storm, cover us!"

"That is not a problem." Storm rose up in the air, winds picking up ash around her, and the air within the room darkened. A single drop of water fell, hitting Mai Shiranui on the nose. Then another. Thunderheads formed around the ceiling beams.

Storm's eyes narrowed. "That is not a problem at all." A bolt of lightning flashed from the ceiling; it was mirrored in her eyes.

In no time at all, the mutant had conjured a hurricane. Fighters were picked up by the winds and flung about wildly, striking into each other and the walls like beads in a maraca. What fires lingered from Kyo's blaze quickly hissed and were gone. Rain pounded downward with sufficient force to knock a man down. In the middle of this, Storm hovered serenely, calm in the face of the chaos she'd unleashed.

The side of the room with the door in it was untouched. Terry and Ryu were looking at Storm, to Ryo, to each other, and back to Storm, their jaws dangling.

Trying as best he could to ignore the display, Ryo grabbed Jago by the shoulder and led him towards the door at a dead run. As he approached it, he noticed Morrigan, her hair hanging wetly around her head, land gently next to the door. Their eyes met, and Morrigan faintly smiled. Even that showed a hint of her fangs.

Ryo cursed, and slowed down. Morrigan was powerful and unpredictable. He and Jago advanced slowly, expecting the fight of their lives.

Morrigan, her eyes still holding Ryo's, slowly and deliberately turned her back on him, pretending to be engrossed in the wall. As Ryo came closer, she moved away from the door.

Ryo didn't have time to wonder about Morrigan's motivation. He simply ran.

* * *

**Elevator Shaft, RumbleDome Hotel**

Lord Raptor laughed maniacally as the elevator carried them towards Demitri's floor. "I'm gonna get 'em! I'm gonna beat 'em 'til they can't hold a shape! Donovan, and that cop guy, and the fat wrestler, and...A-HAHAHAHA!"

Pai, figuring it was probably wise, said nothing.

Lord Raptor observed that they'd reached the floor they wanted. "A-HAHAHAHAH! Not too long now! What's the problem, babe? Can't speak? Too in love with me, huh? I get that a lot." The elevator doors slid smoothly open. Raptor and Pai stepped out, looking around. "Where are the the little bastards?" Raptor demanded. "When _I_ was alive, it didn't take me this long to get up a few damn flights of stairs! _I_ had _stamina_, dammit!"

The stairwell door opened, and Lord Raptor, once again, chuckled maniacally (as if he could chuckle any other way). "C'mere, you guys! It only hurts more if ya struggle!"

"I've never noticed that, rookie. BERSERKER BARRAGE!"

Wolverine came through the door like a bat out of hell, slashing madly. His claws took large chunks out of the door and its frame as he barreled towards Raptor, who, expecting Jeffry or Stryker, was taken completely offguard.

"It was very fortunate that we met friends Wolverine and Kim on the stairs!" Jeffry stated. The sheer lack of irony in his tone was enough to make Stryker wince.

Raptor responded with a chainsaw leg directly to Wolverine's gut. Wolverine responded by Drill Clawing into-and partially through-Raptor's torso. Death Hurricane met Tornado Claw. Evil Scream met Adamantium Hell. It was easily the most grotesque thing any of them had ever seen.

Pai moved towards the fight, but a soft whistle from the stairwell distracted her. When she looked to see what it was, she found herself looking down the barrel of Stryker's gun.

"Go ahead. Help out the zombie. I've had a _real_ bad day. Give me an excuse to shoot something that'll react." Stryker let Kim Dragon down from his shoulder, never lifting the gun off of Pai for a second. Kim stood on his own, favoring his left side, while Stryker took Pai into the stairwell and handcuffed her to the railing.

When Stryker came back out, the fight was over. The crucial difference between Wolverine and Lord Raptor was very simple:

Wolverine healed. Lord Raptor didn't.

Thus, Wolverine was the one left standing. With a satisfied grin, he clashed his claws together.

From the floor, Lord Raptor's disembodied head yammered away. "C'mere! I can still fight! I've had worse than this! I'll break ya! I'll tear ya in half! I'll **gum** ya to death!"

"If you come any closer to that Monty Python bit, sicko, I'm gonna... gonna..." Wolverine found himself at a loss for words. Everything he could threaten Raptor with, he'd already _done_.

"Come on!" Stryker yelled. "We have to get to Demitri's room!"

"On my way." Wolverine raised his head instinctively. He smelled something. "Scratch that, bub. I'll be along in a little bit."

Stryker didn't hear him. He, Kim, and Jeffry were already on their way.

Wolverine calmly stood in the middle of the hallway, feeling his healing factor working, knitting the lacerations Raptor had left together. He retracted and reextended his claws, waiting.

A moment later, as Wolverine had known it would, the carpeting blackened and burned outward, heralding the arrival on this floor of Pyron. The alien, following Demitri's mental signals for assistance, took a moment to turn around.

When Pyron did, it ran straight into a Tornado Claw.

"Did ya miss me?" Wolverine asked. He didn't wait for an answer before ripping into it.

* * *

**Room 1891, RumbleDome Hotel**

Sodom found the bathroom in Demitri's apartment very much suited to his tastes.

He wasn't the kind of guy who'd shy away from a little fighting. Hell, he was the boss of a soon-to-be-international street gang (really, he meant it this time, Mad Gear was gonna make it to the top); you don't get to that position in life by being wish y-washy. However, when vampires, demons, magick, and sacrifices, among other things commonly held as bizarre, come into the picture, a wise man knows that it's time to cut one's losses and leave.

Which is what he would have been doing in an ideal situation. Instead, he and Adon, when Bison called them up to Demitri's room, had said that they were planning to leave. The scene was just too weird for them. Instead, they were rushed by that psycho b itch Morrigan. Fortunately, Adon had slowed her down enough for Sodom to beat feet out of there. One bite from her, and Adon went instant zombie. Unfortunately, in his rush to get the hell out of there, Sodom hadn't picked the right door. He'd ran into the bathroom.

Fortunately, Sodom remembered his vampire lore, and the shower had a detachable head. By spraying it across the doorway, he'd effectively rendered Morrigan helpless to come after him; apparently, those old movies had been right about the running water. They'd sent a couple of their zombies in after him-some fat guy and a tall chick in blue-but he'd sent them back out in a few minutes with a severe concussion for their trouble. That seemed to drive the hint home that Sodom didn't intend to come out for anybody. So, he'd been sitting here ever since, waiting for Demitri to leave his freakin' room. He had, judging from what Sodom'd heard, but now, all he heard was fighting.

Sodom took a chance. He opened the door.

Heavy D! immediately flew through it. The boxer looked dazed for a moment, then returned to the battle and rocked Ganryu with a R.S.D.

Sodom looked around the room for a moment. He saw Ryu flinging Hadokens everywhere, and he frowned. If that goody-good was here, he was probably on the other guys' side. He also saw that guy Galford, the one who'd eliminated him, lying unconscious. He let himself smile.

It seemed to Sodom, after a moment's consideration, that Morrigan's side was winning. His path was clear. If he threw in with them and they won, he might be able to get out of this unscathed. If they screwed it up and they didn't sin, then he could make a break for it.

Sodom lunged out of the bathroom, directly at Heavy D!, and planted a jitte in the boxer's back.

* * *

**Stairway to Roof, RumbleDome Hotel**

Jago was in the lead as they took the last flight of stairs. Ryo was surprised that the ninja wasn't slowing down at all; ordinarily, Ryo would have been, but he had the enchantment holding him up.

The stairs had become badly lit as they approached the top of the building. All that was stored on the higher floors were air-conditioners and the penthouse apartment (which Birdman had claimed), the latter of which only accessible by elevator. Ryo had a distinct feeling that he and Jago were the only living souls to see this portion of the hotel for a long time (correct; Tristan was the only one who ever came up here). Full night had overtaken the RumbleDome, and the darkness was near absolute, illuminated only by Ryo's glow. The dust rose in a thick fog beneath their feet. They approached the last landing with relief; no matter what happened when they stepped onto the roof, at least it was open space. The darkness had begun to close in on them.

As Jago's foot touched the landing, a flicker grew into a shadow as something filled the formerly empty space. The shadow resolved itself into Bison, imposing as ever, barring their path. "You will not harm the Master except over my dead body, louts," h e declared. Psycho power flared around him, overpowering Ryo's weaker aura and recoloring the stairs in neon red.

"That is not a problem," Jago said. There was no threat inherent in it; it was the simple truth.

"We don't need this, Jago. Get out of the way." Ryo began to draw in his chi again.

"No. We do not need your abilities to deal with this trash." Jago looked at Bison. "Are you ready?"

Bison's face twisted in rage. "You shall pay for this insult, worm."

Jago jumped Bison's opening Psycho Shot and landed next to him. That was when Jago exploded.

His hands and feet moved too fast to be seen, save for the periodic green flash of his sword being drawn. Bison's face and chest rippled under countless impacts, his uniform seeming to shred by itself. Finally, after a solid two minutes of beating on Bi son, Jago stopped moving, and Bison keeled over.

Ryo goggled. "How did you **do** that?!"

Jago/Doom shrugged. "It is elementary, once one has mastered this body's reflexive methods, to master a series of attacks that could theoretically be carried on for an indefinite period of time, be it seconds, minutes, or hours. While I would not care t o test this hypothesis, I could have dealt this man a 'combo' that, allowing sufficient time for rest and rehydration, would not have finished until three years hence."

Bison groaned.

Jago/Doom ignored him. "But that would be overkill, would it not?"

* * *

**The Ring**

"You okay, man?" Wanderer asked. Birdman was finally coming to.

"Why can't I just do a nice, simple, incredibly violent tournament without anything exploding, or crashing out of windows, or taking over the node, or anything? Why can't it ever be easy?"

Wanderer chose to dodge the question. "By the way, we're about to see who the finalists are. Do you want to watch?"

"Oh, shut up." Birdman pulled himself up to the microphone.

From safely across the ring, Guy watched King and Bishamon rip into each other with a half-smile on his face. Whoever won this fight, he would battle for the title; Guy's only problem was that he didn't know who to cheer for.

Bishamon, on the other hand, considered this a different kind of fight entirely. "One without honor has no right to fight such a warrior as Guy!" Bishamon maintained, slashing King's side as she scrambled to get away.

"Would you SHUT UP?" King demanded, her Trap Shot slamming Bishamon upside the head. "So I kicked you in the back **once**. That doesn't mean I have no honor at all!"

"There are no degrees of honor! One either has it or he doesn't!" Bishamon came back at her with a quick slash, his blade tracing a figure-eight in the air; King sidestepped it.

"Yeah!" the armor added. "Everyone knows broads don't have any honor, anyway."

King started to get mad. Again. "_Broads_?"

Bishamon was startled. "No! It was the armor! Not me! I would **never**-"

"You gonna start bitch-slappin' me, babe?" the armor said. The mouth on the front of the armor smiled.

"You chauvinist bastard! How **dare** you?!" King rushed forward,  
starting her Illusion Dance. Bishamon blocked, holding up his sword as kick after kick crashed into it. The sword made appropriate cries of pain.

"That's _three times_ you've done this to me," he growled at the armor. "**Three times.**"

"Hey, just admit it, Bish; you wouldn't have any fun without me."

As King finished her Illusion Dance, Bishamon moved forward, slashing madly. King was caught off-guard, and, as such, couldn't block or sidestep the massive-damage chain Bishamon unleashed on her. The last strike knocked her over the side.

As King passed through the field, Bishamon howled to the sky: "How much longer must I endure it? How much longer must I endure this cursed sword and armor?"

Up in the booth, Birdman punched a button, and a _ding!_ sound went out over the airwaves. "Yes, folks, that's the first time tonight he's said it! Remember, if you guess the number of times Bishamon says that phrase over the course of the broadcast, _you_ \- yes, you, that fat guy in the back - can win a Jeep Wrangler! Stay tuned after the Rumble for details!"

Meanwhile, King had landed in Revolution X. Headmistress Helga had made a proposition that King had met with something less than enthusiasm. Her lack of enthusiasm had resulted, by the time the DimensionCam tuned in on her, for no less than seventeen broken bones for Helga, and more on the way.

* * *

**Room 1891, RumbleDome Hotel**

"I am usually not a cynic, but this isn't going well," Liu Kang muttered.

Terry Bogard took a moment to snarl at him. "I **am** a cynic, and we're getting our asses kicked!"

Liu would have answered, but Kuma was crushing the Shaolin to its chest. Liu struggled for a moment, but there was nothing in his training, past or present, that had ever prepared him for a bear attack. Eventually, with a groan, Liu went limp, and the bear cast him aside in search of new opponents. Its eyes eventually settled on Terry.

Terry decided against making some statement based on wolves vs. bears. He let a Power Geyser do his talking for him. As a considerably less furry Kuma fell away, Terry looked up to check the situation. Nope; it still sucked.

Sasquatch and Storm hovered around the window, staving off Fulgore, Mai, Wolf, and Cyclops. Ryu exchanged missiles with Morrigan, Iori, and Mizuki. Yoshimitsu happily (that robot had something seriously wrong with it) fought Ganryu and Bruce, and Heavy D! was dealing with Neo-Dio and Sodom (and where in the hell had *he* come from?). And, of course, Terry got to play with Sub-Zero, Paul Phoenix, and now that damn bear. None of them were doing well.

Terry adjusted his cap. How had he gotten here, anyway? He didn't even _see_ Mary anywhere. Ryo had been here for a second, if that had really been Ryo (if so, Terry needed to talk with that boy about what techniques he was using), but then he and Jago had run out.

Terry looked up in time to see Sasquatch swallow Cyclops. After a short period of time where Sasquatch got the strangest look on its face (Cyclops was apparently struggling going down), Cyclops was spit back up, encased in an iceberg. As funny as the sight was, it cost Sasquatch dearly. A series of plasma bolts singed the bigfoot's fur, knocking it off-balance; Fulgore, having finally found a way past Storm, pressed its advantage. A second burst of plasma sent the bigfoot spinning out the window. Sasquatch had time to yell, "CHUFFLE!" (literally translated, "HELP!") before disappearing entirely.

Despite the distance, Terry found himself sprinting for the window, a cry on his lips. Paul Phoenix tried to get in his way, which was a big mistake on Paul's part. Terry sent Paul to the floor fifteen seconds later with two black eyes and a badly broken nose.

Storm immediately swept Mai and Wolf away from her with a Typhoon, lifting them up and depositing them somewhere in the ceiling's exposed ductwork before diving out the window after Sasquatch.

A sound reached his attention over the din of combat. Heavy-D! had backed Neo-Dio into the corner; now, the corner above the World Hero bulged under a series of sharp impacts. As Neo-Dio looked up in a daze, the whole of the wall collapsed down on his head.

A figure strode into the room, through the space the wall had occupied. Although enormous, the specifics of its form were obscured by a black cloak. From within the hood, a single red eye Heavy D! gasped. "You!"

The figure agreed. "Me." It advanced into the room slowly, the eye surveying the destruction. "It would appear that you've missed the vampire entirely."

"Ryo Sakazaki's taking care of it. Jago's with him."

A massive snort sounded from underneath the hood. "Two fighters against the vampire who would be God?"

D! spoke further, but a loud kiap from Bruce drowned it out. The kickboxer jumped towards the cloaked figure, kicking powerfully. Almost without seeming to move, the figure reached out one arm and plucked Bruce from the air. He then guided Bruce towards the floor with impressive force. Bruce did not try to get up again.

From across the room, Morrigan sighed. "Would someone **please** kill him?!" The succubus, not usually known for her iron self-control, felt her patience slip that much more.

Cyclops, breaking free of the ice, was the first to comply, opening his visor wide. A Mega Optic Blast issued forth, sweeping towards the cloaked figure.

Just before the blast hit, the figure raised his arm to protect his face, seemingly in vain. But he stood. The cloak whipped around behind him, disintegrating in the false wind of the Optic Blast. Most of the wall behind him faded white, powdered, and flashed apart; the edges of the hole it had entered through smoothed as if the hole had been cut with a laser. Neo-Dio, prying his way out of the pile of rubble behind the figure, looked up in time to have most of the bones in his body broken by Cyclops' blast. But the figure stood.

Cyclops closed his visor in shock, unable to believe that anything could have survived that. Even when blocked, his Mega Optic Blast usually at least knocked people over, and the figure, still clad in the tattered remnants of the cloak, remained on his feet.

"The time..." the figure rumbled, "...for deception..." A single four-fingered hand emerged from the depths of the cloak. "...is past!" The hand ripped the cloak away.

Kintaro stood revealed, roaring his power and majesty to the sky.

Terry swore softly, and D! appeared likely to fall over from shock.

"STAND, VAMPIRESS!" Kintaro bellowed, working his way towards Morrigan. Slaves flew like tenpins. "STAND AND FACE ME!"

"Not bloody likely," Morrigan muttered, jetpacking away.

Meanwhile, from across the room, Terry swallowed hard. "Yeah. This is _much_ better."

* * *

**Outside the Hotel, Above the Ring**

Fortunately, Sasquatch was big enough that he created quite a lot of wind resistance. Even then, Storm warped the weather patterns almost beyond recovery in the RumbleDome generating enough of an updraft to even slow the bigfoot's plummet down. The audience shivered as, without warning or provision in the 'Dome's weather program, the Dome acquired a jetstream. Popcorn wrappers and programs flew around in minature tornadoes.

"What's happening _now_?!" Birdman demanded.

Wanderer's eyes ran across the monitor showing the current camera feed from the Hotel. "Um..." Sasquatch appeared at the top of the screen and fell out of the camera's view. "...it's raining bigfeet."

Birdman inspected Wanderer for signs of being drunk.

"Reach for me, Sasquatch! **Reach**!" Storm screamed, her words almost lost in the howling wind. Sasquatch's arm flailed out, and Storm grabbed-and lost her grip. Sasquatch was too big and falling too fast.

Sasquatch jerked away, spinning in mid-air, his mouth moving silently in what might have been a prayer.

Storm gathered her will and gritted her teeth, throwing every bit of power she had into speed. Wind kicked up behind her, shooting straight down, and the mutant fired downward like a rocket, ending up _below _Sasquatch. The bigfoot's eyes widened.

Raising her hands, Storm manipulated the flows of air, weaving them into a Typhoon, this one issuing straight up and above her, catching Sasquatch and almost completely reversing his momentum. As he began a more leisurely plummet, Storm looked around frantically for someplace to land, and found the smoking side of the hotel. She didn't waste any time trying to figure out how that might have happened. She simply used the column of wind Sasquatch floated on to throw the bigfoot into the hotel, then landed next to him a moment later.

Birdman rested his head on his arms. The consequences of Storm's toying with the winds were now being felt; across the RumbleDome, audience members tried to shelter themselves as a brisk rain began to fall.

Behind him, the door to the announcement booth rudely banged open, and Scott Johnson came in at a dead run, a cyberpenguin with a big head immediately behind him. "Birdman, I need to talk to you - it's raining. Why is it raining?"

"Ask the mutant over there. Why do you have a cyberpenguin? I told you, **no** penguins."

"I needed it. We were interrogating Rugal as to why he was fighting with Shao Kahn; that was why Motaro went flying out the window. There's something absolutely **huge** going on here, Birdman, and we're the last to know. The entire Multiverse may be at s take."

Upon hearing this, Wanderer began sorting through Birdman's liquor cabinet.

* * *

**Roof, RumbleDome Hotel**

Jago moved through the door to the roof like shadow over snow. Ryo felt like a lumbering elephant in comparison as he stepped over Bison's body.

The sun had fully sunk below the horizon a few minutes ago. The illumination now came from the million-candlepower halogen lights shining onto the ring, a thousand feet below them, and the emergency lights blinking from the corners of the roof.

Jago reappeared in front of Ryo, and put a finger in front of his mouth. Ryo nodded, and moved on the balls of his feet, around behind the small shack that held the stairs.

Looking around the shack's side, Ryo finally laid eyes on Demitri Maximov.

The vampire stood at the center of an elaborate circle of runes, sketched in chalk on the concrete surface of the roof. Beyond him and outside the circle, Talbain whimpered softly from inside a silver cage, next to a bundle of cloth. Whatever was inside the bundle groaned weakly and squirmed. At least, Ryo thought, now he knew what had happened to the werewolf.

Demitri chanted in a guttural language; despite the fact that Ryo didn't understand it, the implications of what it _might_ mean still made his flesh crawl. Before him, Haohmaru gently floated on his back, covered with strange symbols. The ronin's skin glowed white, small orbs of the radiance detaching and being absorbed into Demitri's blue aura. Next to Demitri, Charlotte stood with her back ramrod straight and her eyes closed.

What spooked Ryo more than anything else was that Charlotte was smiling.

"Will this work?" Ryo hissed to Jago/Doom. "Has he got everything he needs?"

Doom considered it. "He has Haohmaru, the time grows close, and he has one who loves Haohmaru." Jago's borrowed eyes grew dark and serious. "Beyond that, all else is completely meaningless. He could be performing the ritual in the foyer of the Vatican, and it would be just as effective."

Ryo steeled himself. "Great."

Demitri switched back to English. "The competition is nearly over. The time is nigh," He announced, holding a knife aloft.

Quickly, Demitri grabbed Charlotte's wrists and cut them; blood flowed down over Haohmaru's chest. "The blood of love paves the way." Demitri licked his lips. "Now, the sacrifice's power is ready for the harvest. Dark Lords, now witness-the death!" He brought the knife down.

Jago snarled, "**NOW**, boy!"

Ryo stepped out from behind the shack. "KOHKEN!"

The knife melted over Demitri's hand just before it touched Haohmaru's chest, white-hot from the impact of Ryo's enhanced fireball. Ryo, his hands up in his fighting stance, slowly walked towards Demitri.

"Sakazaki," Demitri breathed. The vampire took in Ryo in a single glance, judging and weighing him. He forgot about the molten metal on his hand. Jago, slightly beyond him, Demitri dismissed as irrelevant. Ryo, though... Ryo had changed. The enchantment he was under (obvious) was only a small part of it.

Ryo didn't drop his fists. "You probably won't believe me, but it's over. My friends are beating Morrigan as we speak, and I won't let you sacrifice Haohmaru."

"Actually, you will," Demitri said.

"What?"

"You will." Demitri gestured, and the bundle next to Talbain jumped to his outstretched hand, shedding its outer layer of cloth as it went.

"Or," Demitri said with a sneer, drawing another knife from inside his cloak, "I will kill your father."

Above his head, Demitri held the body of Takuma Sakazaki.

* * *

**Room 1891, RumbleDome Hotel**

"This is absolutely ridiculous," Morrigan fumed. Kintaro's appearance was nothing less than disastrous for her; every time he swung his arms, another fighter went down in a heap. The odds were evening quickly.

Wolf Hawkfield dropped down behind Kintaro from his perch in the ceiling, catching Kintaro in a headlock. Due to his leverage, Kintaro had a hard time dislodging the Virtua Fighter. But he did so eventually, bucking Wolf cleanly off of him and through the open doors to the suite. Wolf's world accelerated to speed lines, ending abruptly with a _crack! _as his head contacted the outside wall.

As Wolf staggered to his knees, he thought, vaguely, of how much he hated Morrigan, and realized it was true. He *did* hate Morrigan. The impact had driven the effects of Morrigan's bite away. Now if only he felt up to doing something about that...

Wolf heard a clatter of running feet from behind him, and he looked up, immediately regretting it when the world spun around him.

"Ho! Friend Wolf!" Jeffry, smiling widely, stood before him. Slightly beyond him, Kim Dragon leaned heavily against the wall.

"Jeff... that... you, buddy?"

"Yes indeedy! It is me, Wolf! I must say that I am sorry, but friend Rose told me that you have been brainwashed by the bad men and are not yourself! Thus, I must do this! I hope that you are feeling better when you wake up, so that we may go drink beer and chase women!" Jeffry then kicked Wolf in the face. Repeatedly.

Heavy D! took a backdrop from Sodom, and fell. As D! staggered to his feet, Sodom stabbed downward with his jitte-and was frozen into modern art from behind. Iceman, casting blasts of ice every which way, nodded to D! as the boxer Soul Flowered Sodom out of his encasing. The Street Fighter hit the floor.

"Hey, D! When did Kintaro get here?" Iceman yelled, shielding himself from an Optic Blast.

"About five minutes ago! Get this," D! yelled back, "he was that guy in the cloak!"

"**What?**"

"Yeah! Surprising, ain't it?"

"And you know what that means, D!"

"What?"

"You owe _me_ five bucks! 'Raiden's the guy in the cloak', my ass. What were you thinking?" Iceman smiled.

D! groaned as Sodom leaped back up.

Meanwhile, Cyclops, Sub-Zero, and Mai pelted everything they saw with fans, ice barrages, and Optic Blasts. Terry, the only person in any position to do something about that, couldn't get anywhere near them. His Power Waves were dissipated by other attacks almost before they left his hand, and any jump-ins or dashes were immediately countered. Even Kintaro was unable to get close. Fans stuck at odd angles out of his chest.

With both reeling, and Terry frozen by a lucky burst of ice, Cyclops opened his visor wide to smash the two fighters with a second, possibly fatal, Mega Optic Blast.

Dan, being of a particularly dramatic mind today, came flying through a hole in the wall and slammed into the X-Man's side, spinning around in mid-air as he delivered all three hits of his Gale Kick. As Cyclops fell down, Dan jumped away, making room for a pair of HaohShoKohKens from the newly arrived Robert Garcia and Yuri Sakazaki,  
introducing Sub-Zero and Mai to the carpet as well.

Sub-Zero got up first, and raised his hands to shower ice down upon both of the KyoKugenRyu stylists. A sudden impact into his sternum stopped that idea. Stryker then used his nightstick to lever Sub-Zero into the floor. The ninja remained still after that.

"I never liked him anyway," Stryker mused.

Stryker's world then grew fur. Kuma sprang out from seemingly nowhere (actually, from behind the bar), its paws snapping around Stryker's body like a vise. The cop, like Liu before him, had no training to assist him against an attack from a bear.

He did, however, unlike Liu, have body armor. Stryker couldn't breathe, but he could reach the gun in his shoulder holster. Pulling it out, he flicked off the safety by memory and stuck the barrel in Kuma's ear. Unable to think of anything cool to say, he simply put half a clip into the side of Kuma's head.

The 9mm bullets couldn't cause severe harm to the bear, even at this range; its bone structure was way too dense for that. On the other hand, they did _hurt_ like all hell, and Kuma dropped Stryker in favor of the more immediately appealing strategy of running around and roaring in pain.

The Fulgore unit, intent upon punishing Yoshimitsu for the sword cut the other robot had left in its chestplate, did not see Kuma coming until it was too late. Unfortunately, neither did Stryker.

Stryker rolled several grenades across the floor towards Kuma, his intent to disable the bear. Kuma obscured his vision of Fulgore, who, its head seconds away from being crushed into tinfoil by a paw swipe, did nothing to avoid the explosion.

Yoshimitsu knew, although Stryker did not, exactly what kind of munitions the average Fulgore unit carried. That was why it teleported across the room and safely behind Kintaro right before the first of the grenades exploded.

The resultant holocaust destroyed the Fulgore unit, knocked Kuma unconscious, shattered the ice around Terry, and flung Stryker away like a rag doll. The cop's distance from the explosion saved his life, though his further involvement in this fight was over; sheer concussive force knocked him unconscious.

Hidden from most of their eyes, Kyo Kusanagi stirred. As he got to his feet, he remembered-vaguely-one of his enemies overcoming his defenses and knocking Kyo senseless. That would not happen again. He would make sure of that by wiping them off the face of the Earth.

While he'd been unconscious, his enemies had fallen to brawling amongst themselves. Good. Distracted, he could kill them all before any knew what hit them. He raised his hands to sweep the world clean, and jet-black gouts of the Source burst forth.

A wave of blue and violet flames stopped them, deflecting them into empty air. Iori, the fires' controller, stood between Kyo and the rest of the room, his own Source crackling dangerously between his fingers.

"The world has grown too ironic for us both, Kusanagi," Iori called. "Stop now, and surrender, or I must put you down for the sake of all."

Kyo snarled, and responded with a crushing wave of ebon flames. Iori mustered his forces. This would determine it all. Iori shook his head and laughed. _The universe would surprise us, indeed_, he thought, as Kyo's flames beat down upon him.

Morrigan left Mizuki to deal with Ryu and advanced cautiously on Kintaro. The Shokan would not be an easy opponent, and Morrigan didn't trust any of the dupes she'd been left with to deal with him.

"HAOHSHOKOHKEN!"

Morrigan saw the blast coming, and threw herself backwards, letting Ganryu take it for her. The sumo wrestler did so, albeit with a massive cry of pain. She turned towards the blast's author, Robert Garcia, a thin smile creasing her features.

"Come get some," Robert snarled, beckoning her onward.

"This shouldn't take more than a couple of seconds." Morrigan smiled, floating lazily towards Robert, already planning how to rip his throat out.

"SHINKUU..."

Morrigan heard the voice from behind her, and whipped around.

"...**GADOKEN**!" Dan's super fireball slammed into her at point-blank (like there was any other choice) range. As she cleared her head, Morrigan looked from Robert, to Dan, and back to Robert.

"You could _not_ have hit me that hard," she muttered. "I am _not _seeing double."

"Nope," Robert said, grinning fiercely. "I owe you, babe, and Dan's volunteered to help me collect."

"What in the world are you talking about?"

"Well, first off, you beat the crap out of my buddy Ryo earlier. Second, you enslaved Mai, who's one of my fiance's best friends. Finally, you had that slave fight my fiance. Do you need more?" Robert didn't wait for an answer before slamming Morrigan with his Kick Dance.

"MISTRESS!" Mai screamed, jumping up. She ran towards Dan, fans in both hands, ready to help Morrigan. A hand clapped onto her shoulder in mid-step, spinning the ninja around.

"Excuse me," Yuri said, "but you owe me a rematch-OOF!" Mai's elbow slammed into Yuri's stomach, who, despite her inability to breathe, spin kicked Mai in return.

Iceman, pinned down by Cyclops, protected himself from his erstwhile leader with a shield of ice. Dodging out from behind his barricade, just before Cyclops blasted it into splinters, he saw a familiar form moving down the hallway. Just beyond him, the unconscious forms of Jeffry McWild and Kim Dragon sprawled on the floor. Iceman,  
though, not seeing them, waved enthusastically to him.

"Buddy! What took you so long? We _really_ need your-" An enormous fist clipped him behind his ear, and Iceman dropped in a heap.

Cyclops saw Iceman go down and surveyed the room for his next target. That target, though, found him.

"POWER...**DUNK**!" Terry Bogard's energy-charged fist struck Cyclops to the ground. As he got up, Cyclops fired again, and Terry sidestepped the Optic Blast. "Let's go! BURN KNUCKLE!" Terry propelled himself towards the X-Men's leader, ready for anything. 'Anything,' in this case, meant being cleanly Gene Spliced out of his move and blasted into the ceiling.

Terry, upon landing, wiped his mouth and charged again. Now, he was pissed.

Meanwhile, Kintaro grabbed Ganryu and heaved. As Mizuki discovered, sumo wrestlers make excellent ballistic missiles. She took Ganryu in the chest, and both of them hurtled against the wall with impressive force. Ryu, who had been fighting Mizuki, took a breath just before Mizuki's Demon Dog bit into his leg.

Ryu considered the dog for a moment, and, with an ever-so-faint smile, spoke. "SHINKUU..."

The dog's eyes widened as the leg it was fastened to picked up speed.

"...TATSUMAKI SENPUUKYAKU!" Ryu began spinning around in mid-air, his foot extended, the force of his spin creating a whirling column of wind. The Demon Dog, whimpering faintly, was wrenched off of Ryu's leg by sheer centrifugal force. Flying away from him, it rocketed across the room, out the window, down to the ring, and through the field, where, separated by an entire dimension from Mizuki, it reverted to a normal dog-a Yorkshire terrier, to be precise.

Unfortunately, it had landed in Felicia's DS2 stage, and, as such, the local feline population outnumbered it. The resulting scene can only be described as "absolutely ridiculous."

Ryu came to a halt and landed, favoring his unbitten leg. Mizuki waited for Ryu to look up and make sure she wasn't anywhere near him before sending her portal underneath the Shotokan fighter. Ryu felt hands fasten onto him as he was pulled through; moments later, Ryu, shaking and white from his trip to hell, reappeared above Mizuki and fell to the ground.

"That," Mizuki said calmly, "was for my doggy."

"This tournament," Ryu said to himself, shivering and rubbing his arms, "could not get any stranger." His momentary disillusionment didn't stop him, however, from once again attacking Mizuki.

Kintaro began to go after Cyclops, but an arm fastened around his neck. Contemptously, he tried to break free-and found he couldn't. The owner of the arm was as strong, if not stronger, than himself.

The Shokan growled and teleported, whoever had ahold of him letting out a startled yell as Kintaro took a shortcut through space and reappeared in the hallway. As his grip loosened, Kintaro reached two of his arms around and grabbed his assailant around the waist, lifting him up and over into a powerslam that shook the floor.

Colossus wasn't slowed in the least. The mutant jumped back up in seconds and dealt a haymaker punch to Kintaro's stomach. Kintaro felt his breath leave him in a rush, and smiled. Finally, a worthy opponent.

* * *

**What Used To Be Rooms 746-7, RumbleDome Hotel**

Storm sat heavily on the remains of one of the beds. "I'm sorry, my friend, but for us, I fear the fight is over. I spent too much of my strength rescuing you. I will not be able to fly for some time."

Sasquatch chuffled soothingly at her, and coughed up an ice cube. Wrapping it in a scrap of the bed's comforter, he handed the icepack to Storm, who smiled and took it.

As she raised the ice-pack to her forehead, Storm noticed something. She'd been too concerned with other matters to feel it before, but it was there. Her powers gave her a... for want of a better word, sensitivity... to weather and temperature, and something was wrong. The temperature, she realized, had jumped; it had not changed by much, but more than it should have with the RumbleDome's rigid climate control. Storm got up and walked to the hole in the wall they'd entered through,  
hoping that a reason for this would suggest itself with a look around the 'Dome.

One did so almost immediately.

A strong thermal updraft rose from the sidewalk just in front of the Hotel, from a spot in the pavement that turned, as Storm watched, the angry red of an infected wound. Rain hit that part of the ground and hissed into steam. Before her eyes, the pavement split, revealing a portal into somewhere else. Sasquatch, standing beside her, chuffled nervously.

The gateway revealed sights that no one living had ever seen before without mortgaging their soul. Fire and darkness rippled in equal amounts, twisting about each other like soft-serve ice cream. Amidst them, spirits raced, hoping against experience that speed alone could distance them from their pain. The roars of the audience barely drowned out the constant screaming-whether it was from the inhabitants of the land beyond th ther, Storm could not tell-but they could not do so for much longer.

Amidst this, a single man sat in a long-backed chair, a drink in his hand. He appeared to be waiting for something.

"Merciful Lady..." Storm whispered. "This is worse than we imagined..."

* * *

**Roof, RumbleDome Hotel**

"Takuma," Ryo murmured.

"I know you and he don't have the most idyllic relationship," Demitri sneered, "but do you truly want it to end at this early point?"

Jago remained silent. For once, Doom mused, he understood another's hesitation.

Ryo finally let his hands drop. "No. I don't."

Doom tensed himself. If he could get to Sakazaki's father...

Demitri's eyes, despite the darkness and the rain that had begun to fall, saw the ninja's muscles tense, and flung a Vampire Rage with his free hand. Jago backflipped, avoiding it, but the point had been made clear. The vampire held the advantage.

But he didn't have eyes in the back of his head.

Jon saw this last trick of Demitri's, and a red rage began to overcome the edges of his vision. The bars of the cage were then gone and he was free, the burning sensation of touching silver remote and cold, racing towards the vampire with murder on his mind, not so much a werewolf as a rolling ball of teeth and claws. Demitri heard the cage collapse, but no being on any Earth could have turned quickly enough to intercept Talbain. He slammed into Demitri's back, the cloth of Demitri's cape flying apart under his talons as if unwoven, but even with all his strength and rage, his claws made no mark on Demitri's skin. The vampire was like a granite statue.

However, Talbain could, and did, make Demitri drop Takuma.

Ryo screamed, "**JAGO!**"

Jago/Doom was already moving, he had been before Ryo had yelled, sliding across the rooftop's surface like oiled smoke, easily past the other man running towards Demitri and Haohmaru. With speed as impressive as Jon's for the fact that it had been so silent, the ninja was fifteen feet beyond Demitri with Takuma Sakazaki in his arms before Ryo had finished his yell.

With a snarl that overpowered Jon's own, Demitri pistoned one of his arms backward, cutting through the blur of motion that was the werewolf to seize him by the throat. Bringing Jon face to face with him, Demitri snarled, "It is _over_," before drawing back and pitching the werewolf the length of the roof. Jon saved himself from falling to the arena floor by grabbing onto the cornerstone.

Demitri pulled a second knife from his belt, and no one was close enough to stop him. Ryo stretching out his foot impotently, taking the first step of a dead run towards the vampire, Jago twenty feet away and his arms full, Jon Talbain climbing back onto the roof; they all faded into invisibility as Demitri brought the knife crashing down, through the haze his vision became, into Haohmaru's breast.

It took two full minutes before Demitri realized nothing had happened.

Looking down in front of him, he saw a man, his face obscured by a rubber mask of a tiger's head, holding one hand up before him and crouched over Haohmaru. The man was coated in severe burns; every motion had to be pure agony. His outstretched hand bled from a deep and recent knife wound, the blood obscuring something which gleamed in his palm.

For a second, Demitri did not move, and he realized too late what the man was trying to do.

In the most eloquent prayer of his life, King held his cross aloft.

* * *

**The Ring**

"Have you rested for long enough, Guy?" Bishamon said courteously.

Guy stood, testing his limbs. "Yes, I think I have. Thank you for the chance."

"It was my duty to ensure that the fight is even."

"Hey, Bish!" the sword said.

"Not now."

"Why didn't you let Homey-ru rest up like that before you two fought last year?"

"Would you be silent?"

Guy cleared his throat. "That's actually a good question, Bishamon."

"Hey, thanks!" the sword said. "I like him. He appreciates me. Hey, you wouldn't be looking for a sword, would you?"

"Actually, no. Sorry."

"Damn. Oh, well. Keep me in mind if you reconsider."

Guy continued as if nothing had happened. "Bishamon, seriously, why did you let me rest if you didn't allow Haohmaru the same last year?"

Bishamon looked embarrassed. "Well, um... Haohmaru didn't really seem to need it."

"Thanks a lot," Guy said dryly. "Shall we?"

"Of course." They assumed their stances.

Up in the booth, Wanderer provided excited commentary. "Folks, this is it! After a hundred and sixty-two fighters entering that ring, only two remain: Guy, from Street Fighter Alpha, and Bishamon, of Night Warriors, facing off for bragging rights as we speak! Let me tell you, tensions are running high up here in the booth!" Wanderer, hearing Birdman take a breath to yell, quickly flipped the microphone off, muttering, "Although none of the tension has to do with the ring."

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN HE'LL BECOME A **GOD**?!"

"Exactly that. Look, it's not like he's unopposed; Rugal had heard that Ryo Sakazaki, Rose, and a number of other fighters were trying to stop him. We won't know for sure until after we've declared a winner." Scott spoke softly.

"So all we can do is wait." Birdman's face grew suspicious. "Is this a practical joke? This is, isn't it! This is you, and Austin, and Brant, getting together to make fun of me for being high-strung!"

"Imagine that," Wanderer muttered, sipping at the glass of wine he'd stolen.

"SHUT UP! I don't need any crap from the guy who's only been in the booth for forty-five minutes!"

Wanderer did so, seeming to pay rapt attention to one of the telemetry screens in the control panel. Guy appeared to be developing arrhythmia.

"Birdman, this isn't a joke." This statement came from Brant, entering the announcement booth with Misty John in tow. Both were about halfway drunk. "We assure you, we're completely serious."

"Great." Birdman slumped down into his chair. "Perfect. All we can do is watch?"

"That's about it, yeah. We only came up here because you have more booze in here than John does in his office."

Tristan hesitatingly poked his head into the booth. "H-h-hey, g-g-guys, th-th-the a-a-air-conditioning's s-s-starting to b-b-break down from o-o-overstress. Wh-what g-g-gives?"

Birdman waved, his voice deliberately flat. "Oh, hi, Tristan. We're at the center of a major plot to destroy the Multiverse. Sit down, have a drink." Ignoring Tristan's protests that he didn't d-d-drink... w-w-wine, Birdman opened up his liquor cabinet and began getting bottles out. "Get Loomis and Putrid in here. Let's have a party!"  
Sarcasm dripped from every word.

Wanderer's voice suddenly cut over them all. "Guys, did you see that?"

"See what?" John asked.

"There it is again, from the roof." White light flashed brillantly for a second time.

Brant leaned over Wanderer, instantly cold sober. "I don't know." He grabbed the walkie-talkie from his belt and spoke urgently into it. "Get me the helicopter crew. I don't care if they're off-duty or not-I'm paying them damned well, and I'll double it if they talk to me-Steve? Brant. Get a camera crew with a spotlight into the air and up to the roof of the hotel. Do _not_ land, and do _not_ get too close. There's something going on there, something big. That's right, I said double your pay. Brant out." Brant replaced the walkie-talkie and watched the ring carefully, glancing occasionally at the roof. "We'll see what's happening soon enough."

* * *

**Roof, RumbleDome Hotel**

King, barely conscious as he crouched over Haohmaru, muttered to himself as he pushed the cross towards Demitri. The cross, albeit no bigger than a silver dollar, shed radiance bright enough to read by. Demitri recoiled from it, the sheer power of King's faith overpowering both his own willpower and the resilience granted him by his deal with the Dark Guy; the latter was actually more of a hindrance than a help in this situation. A high-pitched sound rose through the air, and Demitri thinly realized it was himself, roaring in pain as the light tore into his eyes. The sacrificial knife lay ignored on the rooftop, wet with King's blood.

As Demitri backed off from King, Jon Talbain grabbed Charlotte, her face pale from loss of blood, and looked at Ryo. The werewolf's eyes widened when he saw Ryo's glow, but he didn't waste any time.

"What's the plan?" Jon yelled.

"Get out of here! Grab Jago, Haohmaru, and King, and go! I'll keep Demitri back as long as I can!" Ryo's mouth narrowed to a thin line.

Jon opened his mouth again, and Ryo, his voice overpowering the roars of the crowd and Demitri's power-saw-through-concrete scream, roared, "DON'T **ARGUE** WITH ME! GO!"

The werewolf, cowed, hooked Haohmaru up with his other arm and ran for the door. Jago/Doom, his eyes unreadable, followed, King over the ninja's shoulders.

Ryo stood alone watching the light die. The chalk pentacle on the roof already began to disappear under the force of the rain. Demitri slowly drew himself to his feet. When he saw the space that had held Haohmaru empty, his gaze turned, inevitably, to Ryo.

"Do you realize the kind of planning it took me to get everything in position for this?" Demitri said conversationally. He might have been discussing the chances of his favorite sports team. "Do you have the _slightest_ idea what you have interfered with?"

"None," Ryo said. "All I know is that it had to be stopped, and somehow, my friends and I did. You may kill me, Demitri, but you will never get off this roof before the Rumble ends. I can guarantee that. No one will become a god today."

"Oh, I know that, Sakazaki. I know that." Demitri seemed to be mourning something. "Just as you may never know what your heroism has cost me."

Ryo didn't say anything. If he had, it would have been drowned out. The helicopter Brant had sent for rose from the side of the roof, its spotlight sweeping over the two of them, casting their shadows for a mile. It remained in orbit a good fifty feet away from the side of the roof, out of the line of fire. At the side of the 'Dome, barely visible below them, the 'copter's camera feed kicked in and both of them, standing ten feet apart, appeared in smaller form on the video screen, sharing room with Guy and Bishamon. The audience gasped as one as something unexpected entered their view.

Demitri screamed, over the sound of the rotors, "YOU REALIZE, OF COURSE, THAT I'M GOING TO MAKE YOU PAY FOR WHAT YOU'VE DONE?"

Ryo nodded. He had not expected anything less. The vampire rushed him; Ryo did not change expression.

Down in the ring, Guy and Bishamon fought for the title, and the melee continued within what had been Demitri's suite.

As above; so below.

* * *

_Original Authors_

Chris "Birdman" Bird  
Thomas "Wanderer" Wilde


	30. Section 16 - Results

**Section Sixteen - Results**

**The Ring**

The RumbleDome was silent as the feed from the helicopter's camera kicked in. The Maxatron video board split its screen between fighter statistics and the video signal. A shocked murmur ran through the audience. The auras of power that both Demitri Maximov and Ryo Sakazaki radiated were plainly visible, the rain enhancing their glow like torchlight in fog.

Demitri vanished from the searchlight's glare, reappearing next to Ryo with a fierce kick to Ryo's stomach. Ryo stepped back slightly from the force,  
shook his head, and railed Demitri with a Zanretsuken, fists flying faster than the camera could track, his punches having no effect save a slight motion of Demitri's head.

"Were we going to let them keep this up?" Wanderer asked the other inhabitants of the control booth. In the corner of the office, the fax machine had begun to rattle. "You've sort of been telling people all night that the fighters couldn't do this stuff outside of the ring..."

Demitri Demon Cradled Ryo away from him, and slowly glided forward as Ryo got up. Ryo, not knowing any better, blocked as the vampire drew near. That was a mistake.

"Go ahead and stop them," Birdman offered. "I'm sure they're in the mood to listen." He winced. "Has anyone else noticed," he asked the crowd, "just how grossly misnamed the Midnight Pleasure is? I mean, Ryo doesn't seem to be enjoying it up there..."

Demitri, his fangs dripping red, knocked Ryo to the ground as he finished his "meal". Ryo literally bounced right back up, the wounds on his neck closing by themselves, throwing himself headlong at Demitri before the vampire had a chance to fully recover. The vampire, surprised, backed away from him thinking to avoid the attack, but misjudged Ryo's speed; when Ryo touched him, the KyoKugenRyu fighter opened up a can of whoopass. No one could quite tell exactly what he did, but there was a lot of it, it looked like it hurt, and it concluded-about two minutes later-with a vicious uppercut that sent Demitri flying.

"I'm sure that whatever that was-I'm guessing it was the Ryuuko Ranbu on crystal meth-wasn't exactly fun for Demitri, Birdman." Wanderer covered his microphone with his hand. "I'm not talking about stopping them, man. I don't think we could pay any of the security troops enough-"

Scott Johnson looked up from a piece of paper and cleared his throat. "Good guess, that. According to this message that Nunzio just faxed me, the standing price for the security guards to go up there and stop them-my mistake; to _try_ to stop them-is currently standing firm at six billion dollars."

Birdman looked sick. "Isn't that a bit high?"

Scott crooked an eyebrow at him. "I'm not done. Six billion dollars. Each. On the average, after factoring in the cash value of some of the more esoteric requests."

Birdman's voice got very distant. "We have two hundred security guards."

Scott nodded. "Two hundred sixty-three, if you count the additional personnel I added when I become chief."

Birdman winced.

"I take it the fight's going to be permitted to continue?" Wanderer asked. He was, once again, trying not to smile.

"We have a choice?"

Brant winced, pointing at the boards. "I doubt we could stop them if we wanted to. They're both stuck at maximum power."

"How'd they do that?" Birdman asked.

Misty John answered him. "I'd need to get a look at them close up to know for sure. Judging just from what I know of either of them and the colors of their auras, I'd say that Ryo's the beneficiary of a major enchantment using techniques from a lot of different traditions and styles, probably a group effort. I can tell that from the way his aura keeps shifting through the ultraviolet spectrum."

"It isn't shifting at all. It's always white."

"It's all in how you look at it." John wiggled his fingers at him dramatically, then moved on, ignoring Birdman's dirty look. "Demitri's, though, is a lot darker and never changes color; he's powered by a single source, and no mortal entity has anywhere near what it would take to supply him. I'm going to take another guess. Brant, stop me if you know this one..."

Brant Rogers looked sick. "The Dark Guy?"

"Yup. Amazing how he just keeps popping up today, isn't it?" John went back to Birdman's liquor cabinet and grumbled irritably. "Don't you have anything older than last week, Birdman?"

"So we can't stop them." Wanderer's voice was flat. "Even if we could afford it."

"You got it, newbie." John popped the cork off of a bottle.

"So what do we do?" Birdman asked.

John took an experimental swig of a bottle, nodded, and drank again, a bitter expression on his face. "We hope Ryo wins. If he doesn't, I don't like our odds."

* * *

**Rooftop, RumbleDome Hotel**

As he fell away from Ryo, Demitri seemed to collapse in on himself in a burst of sulfur and brimstone. In mid-air, he dodged a Kohken, the wings of his bat-form beating hummingbird-quick, and hooked down into the small of Ryo's back.

Ryo felt the bat's fangs dig into his skin, and he reached back to get it off of him. Unfortunately, his hand didn't touch bat fur, but vampiric flesh, and Demitri grabbed him back and drove him headfirst into the rooftop. Concrete cracked from the impact.

Ryo rolled away, his head ringing, and flung Kohkens and HaohShoKohkens at the advancing vampire, trying to keep Demitri back until his head cleared. Demitri, looking distinctly unimpressed, batted them away or dispelled them with his own Vampire Rages. One Rage got through Ryo's barrage, tearing through a HaohShoKohken, striking him in the chest and setting his gi alight despite the rain.

As he batted at the flames, a swarm of flaming bats, summoned and driven by Demitri, flew into him and perched upon him, inflicting a score of small burns and cuts. Ryo rolled around on the ground, trying to put them out, while Demitri looked on and laughed.

Ryo got to his feet, covered in charred cloth and slime from crushed bats, and looked across the roof.

Demitri was gone. There was nothing else on the roof but pouring rain.

"SAKAZAKI!"

Ryo turned around in place, trying to find the source of Demitri's voice, but saw nothing.

Then light burst out behind him, glowing brighter than the helicopter's searchlight, as Demitri rematerialized, drifting slowly down towards the roof like a falling angel, his body laced with iridescent blue. Sound and motion unrelated to him seemed to stop.

"THIS IS WHERE YOUR LIFE ENDS!" Demitri boomed.

"TRY IT AND SEE!" Ryo roared back. He raised his fists as the vampire swooped down upon him.

* * *

**The Ring**

Guy and Bishamon watched the screen, side by side, their fight forgotten for a moment.

But only for a moment.

As Guy turned, Bishamon's flames screamed out a warning, and Bishamon got his block up in time, a Bushin Roundhouse clashing against his sword.

Guy threw himself away as he finished the kick, but Bishamon slashed twice after his block, faster than Guy had thought possible. The second stroke caught him on his leg, drawing blood and forcing him to tuck and roll.

As Guy regained his feet, he blocked an oncoming flame and jumped, the oncoming Bishamon rushing by a scant inch underneath him. As his feet touched the mat, Guy pushed himself upwards again and spun, catching Bishamon from behind with his feet and juggling him up into the air once, twice, three times.

As Bishamon crashed to the ground, Guy retreated again, feeling every eye in the stadium on him. He heard nothing but the faint pulse of rushing blood through his ears.

Bishamon got up, his equipment alternately mocking him and cheering him on, and slashed once in the air.

Guy crossed his arms in front of his face, but nothing happened.

Bishamon slashed again.

Guy, once again, blocked, once again against no attack.

Bishamon slashed a third time, and this time, Guy did not block, instead dashing forward to catch him while he recovered.

As Bishamon's sword left his hand, Guy's eyes widened, and he realized he'd been tricked. The thrown sword connected with his chest; Guy barely managed to twist his upper body before the blade hit, saving him from losing a lung. Even then, the sword stuck into Guy's stomach, coming very close to disemboweling him. The crowd drew in its collective breath.

Bishamon gestured, and the sword drew itself-and Guy-back to his hand. He swiftly pulled the sword out of Guy and slashed along Guy's other side in the same smooth motion. Even as he did, Guy dodged to the side as best he could, turning a strike that would have bisected him into a long slash along his ribs.

Guy groaned with pain, and he coughed up blood, but he remained on his feet.

"How are you surviving?" Bishamon asked incredulously. This man had been fighting for close to two hours straight; in that time, he had been blasted,  
slashed, crushed, pounded into the mat, set on fire, beaten, and endured enough punishment to kill a dozen men.

And he was still standing.

Guy leapt into the air and took Bishamon for a ride, grabbing him around his midsection and flipping the samurai over. Bishamon slammed headfirst into the mat with earthshaking force.

"Clean living," Guy answered, breathing shallowly, backing away from the samurai. It was all bravado. He knew it. Bishamon knew it. Guy could take a lot of punishment, but he was getting near his limits. He felt blood draining out of his body slowly with every step he took, and all the meditations and chi in the world couldn't keep the pain back for much longer. Guy could feel his knees starting to wobble.

Bishamon regained his feet and swung his sword in a circle. "Let's finish this before you're too weak to stand. There is no honor in defeating a senseless opponent."

"Gladly." Guy rushed at the samurai in a full-out run. Bishamon moved to slash Guy a second time across his waist, but noticed, almost too late, the bright flash as Guy concentrated, and the sudden influx of wind as physics bent to Guy's will.

Bishamon barely blocked a dashing knee, blue shadows trailing behind it, as Guy unleashed the most powerful variation of the Bushin Rage. The Street Fighter fans, in the audience, stood up and cheered as they recognized the technique.

"Bish!" the armor yelled.

Bishamon grunted as a knee strike rammed into his block. "I am somewhat busy, you know..."

"It's important! This technique hits six times!"

Bishamon frowned. "You said that last year. I can't help but notice you got it wrong." A flying kick connected, once again, with Bishamon's parry.

One of the flames snorted. "Don't listen to him, Bish!"

The armor, annoyed, retorted, "Shut up! What do you know?"

"How to count, for one thing..."

"HEY!"

Bishamon backpedaled slightly, rolling with Guy's triple spin kick. "This is not the time or the place for this discussion..."

"You can't count," the flame yelled. "I'll show you! How many of us flames are there?"

The armor thought about it. "Ummm... three?"

The other flame groaned. "See what he's talking about?"

Bishamon grunted as Guy landed a thrusting side kick, which likewise struck his sword, which sobbed with the pain. Independently of his equipment's debate, he had a plan. As Guy's seventh kick landed against his block, and the Street Fighter settled back into his stance, Bishamon disappeared.

"Oh, no..." Guy scrambled away, but it was too late. Six Bishamons reappeared in place of the one and brought their blades down on him. He couldn't dodge, couldn't block; they raked across his arms and chest, and he fell down screaming. Blood pooled on the mat underneath him as he pulled himself to his feet.

Bishamon reappeared, alone, and surged forward, his sword swinging in an overhead arc. Guy rolled forward, tearing his wounds open further, but avoided the slash. Unfortunately for Bishamon, the samurai had overestimated Guy's wounds. His sword bit deeply into the mat, and caught there.

Guy regained his feet, and staggered over behind Bishamon, who struggled to pull the embedded blade out of the ring floor. "Let me help you with that."

"Thank you. That's very-"

Bishamon's sentence was cut off by a single hard punch to his stomach, followed hard upon by three more shots to the face. The sheer impact knocked him senseless, and jarred the sword out of the mat. Bishamon stood up weakly, wavering on his feet.

Guy calmly walked over, ignoring his wounds, and hit him again with the same combination. Bishamon, once again, stood dizzied. Guy repeated the combination, pushing the still-stunned Bishamon across the ring and towards the edge. Boos rang out all around him. He didn't like being this dishonorable, but he had no choice. Bishamon was too fast and dangerous to take any chances with.

Bishamon's equipment, however, had something to say about that.

One of the flames screamed to the armor, "Open your mouth! Get him out here!"

The armor screamed back, "Are you **nuts**?! I'm not gonna do that!"

"Just **DO** it, or we're all dead meat!"

"Fine," the armor grumbled. "Just remember you asked..." The carved face on the front of the armor slowly opened.

Guy raised his fists to attack again, and stopped, as something large and blue filled his vision. Not knowing what to expect, he backed off, as the mouth of Bishamon's armor disgorged something. It reached forth for him, and a voice issued forth from it:

"HA-HAAA! I AM CRUSHING YOUR HEAD!"

Up in the booth, Birdman slapped himself in the forehead. "Oh, _no_..."

Guy had time to get out, "What the he-" before the Bushido Crush hand fastened onto him.

"CRUSH! CRUSH!" The gigantic blue hand grasped him around the midriff, and _squeezed_. Breath was forced from his lungs. Guy's ribs creaked like ancient hardwood floor. The world decorated itself with splashes of color. "I SEE YOU! I DO NOT APPROVE OF YOU... SO I SEE YOUR HEAD... AND I **CRUSH** IT!" The hand noted that its quarry didn't seem to be struggling anymore. "HA! I HAVE... **CRUSHED** YOUR HEAD! HAHAHAHAHAH!" Bored with its sport, the hand flung Guy over Bishamon's shoulder...

...where he fell over the "ropes."

Bishamon climbed to his feet as the hand snuck back into the armor's mouth. He was still woozy. Someone called name... loudly. Who, though? It couldn't be Haohmaru; he'd been eliminated long ago.

Bishamon shook his head, coming to his senses. Sound was meaningless to him over the now overpowering roars from the crowd; he could only hear his equipment's chatter due to the sound baffles installed around the ring. He slowly turned around in a circle; Bishamon saw cheering fans, booing fans, people with irritated expressions exchanging money in the front row, popcorn flying into the air, and an otherwise empty ring. Signs bearing his name popped up everywhere. He didn't see Guy.

"What happened?" he asked his flames.

"That hand of ours threw Guy out of the ring, Bish. We won." The flames flickered jubilantly. "We WON! We get to show off that huge freakin' trophy the next time we're in hell!"

"I thought I told you that the hand was never to get out again."

"Would you get over it, Bish?!" the armor yelled. "WE WON! WE **WON!**"

"I won." Bishamon said the words as if tasting them. Finally, after thinking it over for a minute, weighing it, Bishamon nodded. "**We** won."

Bishamon faced the crowd, and raised his hands in victory. Their cries faded as they watched to see what he would do.

Silently, Bishamon turned his back on them, and the sword disappeared, melting into a ball of light. Quietly, it floated above him and the sword reformed, falling into the sheath on his back.

The audience rose to its feet and roared.

* * *

**Wreckage, Room 1891, RumbleDome Hotel**

Morrigan fought for her unlife.

Quickly, she grabbed Robert Garcia, Shadow Bladed the arrogant little bastard into the ceiling rafters, and jetpacked away before the falling form of Colossus could crush her on the spot. The X-Man threw himself back to his feet, running back towards Kintaro, saying something in Russian that sounded very much like the crack of doom.

As Morrigan achieved what she thought had been a safe altitude, she realized that she'd flown too close to the fight between Iori Yagami and Kyo Kusanagi, and a stray blast of flame very nearly reduced her to a pile of ash. To be honest, she couldn't tell if it was a fight at all; a gigantic sheet of violet and black fire obscured any view of either fighter.

She studied the flames too long; from behind her, Dan Hibiki bounced off a wrecked couch, the dry bar, and the wall before getting high enough to put his knee into the small of her back. Morrigan fell out of the sky, hitting the floor with Dan on top of her, and immediately bucked Dan off of her and into the closest stray projectile she could find. That happened to be an Optic Blast. Dan exited her field of vision in a hurry.

The suite had become a war zone, even worse than before. Kintaro and Colossus' fight ranged across the room and into the hallway, sounding more like an artillery barrage than a brawl. The other fighters constantly had to scramble to avoid one or the other of them.

Cyclops, meanwhile, was having a hard time with Terry Bogard. The Garou was simply too agile to hit. Morrigan sighed; she'd made a mistake when she'd bitten that X-Man. Enslavement had made him careless. Optic Blasts scattershot throughout the room, cutting down his friends and foes alike. As Morrigan watched, Sodom was struck by two blasts in succession, and went down.

Mizuki's lack of concern caused similar problems. Pigs, formerly fighters who hadn't watched their backs well enough, ran around squealing, and more than one person in the room had been struck by a stray Confusion Orb and paid the price.

Morrigan began to move forward, intending to rearrange Dan's internal organs while he was stunned, but heard a familiar voice scream something in Japanese. Morrigan stepped backwards, and a wall of flame streaked past her to impact with the unfortunate Sodom. As Morrigan turned her attention to Robert Garcia, the author of the fireball, she noted Hibiki attempting to sneak up on her, and paid it little attention.

It, however, made Mai Shiranui frantic. "Get out of my _way_, Yuri! My Mistress is in trouble-"

"YURI SUPER UPPER!" Mai went sprawling. Yuri Sakazaki, standing over her, pleaded, "You've got to listen to reason, Mai! She's _not your friend_! She's a **vampire**! Vampires are **bad**! They're-"

"RYUENBU!" Mai immolated Yuri with a sweep of her tail. "You don't understand, Yuri! You don't know how kind she is! You don't know how evil we all are...how much the Multiverse deserves whatever it gets..."

Yuri, smoldering figuratively and literally, discarded her ruined gi top. "Mai, if you're not going to listen," she rushed forward, grabbed Mai, and held her with one hand while the other flew back and forth across Mai's face, "Then I'm. Going. To. Have. To. Beat. Some. Sense. Into. You." Mai collapsed in a heap.

Mai's head jerked up, her cheeks flaming red, and she stood without using her arms. There was a look on her face that made Yuri involuntarily retreat a step. "If that's the way you feel about it, bitch..." A fan snapped into her hand, and Mai advanced on Yuri, slashing at Yuri's face, a look of madness in her eyes.

Meanwhile, Robert, intent on Morrigan, beckoned her onward. "Come on, Aensland! I know you have better than this..."

Morrigan cancelled Robert's fireball and took a step forward. "Little boy, if I showed you just how much better than this I could get, you wouldn't stop crying for ten years..."

"Talk is cheap, slut. You have to **show** me," Robert growled.

Morrigan beckoned him to try something, and Robert did. Moving forward, underneath Morrigan's fists, he jabbed once, feinting towards her body, then spun and drove upwards off his heel, vaulting upward in his Ryuga technique. There was a very brief, satisfying _crunch_ as Morrigan's nose broke.

Morrigan touched her face, and saw the blood on her hand. She licked her fingers and grinned at Robert, crimson streaking her lips. "Be careful what you wish for..."

As Dan raised his fist to cave in the back of Morrigan's head, something reached out and grabbed his wrist.

A second body pulled its way out of Morrigan's back, using Dan's hand as leverage, not so much being born as reproducing by cellular osmosis. Morrigan kept smiling, enjoying the look on both their faces and the sensations, being used to the horrid sounds of flesh and bone popping apart. Something like amniotic fluid, clear and stinking like alcohol, dripped free from the junction of the bodies and showered the floor underneath her.

Robert swung a roundhouse kick at Morrigan's face, but her expression didn't even change as she caught his heel. With ease, she pushed Robert's leg away, nearly jarring his hip out of its socket as he corkscrewed to the ground. As Robert got back up, she remained in the same position, her face angelic, gasping as she felt her skin pull apart.

Dan watched in horror, as a second Morrigan pulled its way out of the first, smiling exactly the same way as the original, dressed the same. Hurriedly, Dan tried to free himself from her grip, but it was no good; she wouldn't budge. A single foot touched the floor, then a second. As Morrigan's double split off entirely, she noticed she still held Dan firmly. Absently, the second Morrigan blasted Dan to the floor with her free hand.

In unison, both Morrigans declared, "...you just might get it."

"What in the hell is _this_?" Robert murmured, ducking under the first Morrigan's swinging heel.

"Usually," they replied, still in that maddeningly perfect synchronization, "we like to produce Dopplegangers more mystically. It takes less effort."  
The second Morrigan spun around and slammed a kick into Dan's jaw. "But you boys are just a little bit special." The first Morrigan drilled Robert viciously, spattering herself with blood, and smiled, showing her fangs. "I want to see how long I can make you bleed..."

* * *

**Hundred and Eighty-Third Floor (maintenance floor), RumbleDome Hotel**

The first thing that Takuma saw when he woke up was the face of Jon Talbain.

Admittedly, he didn't react as well as he could have.

Jago/Doom held him down as Takuma regained his equilibrium. It was amazing, the stamina of the man! He was covered in bruises, burns, and older wounds, and almost certainly had several broken ribs, yet he still fought. "Calm yourself, Sakazaki-sama. You are among friends."

Takuma squinted up at him. "Who are you?"

Jago/Doom's mouth moved under the mask in an invisible smile. The only light here was that provided by the faint green glow from his sword, since the fighting on the upper floors had, long ago, forced a complete power outage in the hotel. "That is a long story. I'm sure, however, that you know Jon Talbain?"

"Yes. Yes, I do." Takuma looked painfully at Jon. "_Gomen nasai._"

Jon got up, rubbing his chin. In the green light, he looked demonic. "That's a helluva left you've got there."

"He has accepted your apology, Sakazaki-sama," Jago/Doom noted.

"That is...somewhat of a relief." Takuma abruptly sat up. "Where is Ryo? The last thing I remember, was Morrigan-"

"Ryo covered our escape," Jago/Doom answered him, pushing Takuma back down. "Rest." He glanced around at his motley party of refugees. The sounds of battle from the roof had grown louder, not softer, the further he'd gotten them from the roof, but even he had had to rest. He and the werewolf were the only ones capable of walking on their own, though Haohmaru's strength appeared to be returning rapidly after Doom had wiped the Glyph of Weariness (Demitri was more learned than Doom had anticipated-under other circumstances, Doom would have considered him a worthy adversary) off of his temples.

"ha! even i, the legendary haohmaru, can be brought low by treachery, it would seem, for if the legendarily loathsome and foul undead demitri was almost able to use my fighting spirit to further his own demonic goals and thus take control of the netherworld (and truly, if i had to be the focus of such a scheme, it is fitting that i should be involved with one with such a legendary aim, even if the sheer disgust that rises up within me at the thought of such a deed makes me wish to retch), then he must be an honorless dog of the lowest order-"

Charlotte placed a finger over his lips. Doom had bandaged her wrists. "Hush, Haohmaru. You are still weak." She held him tenderly, and away from her, so he would not see the marks on her neck.

Doom looked away from them and tended to the final member of their party. The wrestler - King was his name, if Doom remembered correctly - was very close to death, and thus was their largest problem. The second - and third - degree burns that coated much of his body were torn and bleeding from his exertion, and he was not sweating at all-this was a bad sign. The man was almost certainly suffering from heatstroke, and appeared to be in an advanced stage of shock.

Jon Talbain crouched next to Doom. "How is he?"

Doom did not look up. "He is badly, perhaps mortally, injured. We should get him to the infirmary as soon as possible." He considered the werewolf momentarily. "You are capable of moving quickly in your present form, correct?" Talbain nodded. "Excellent. Take this man and rush him down to the medical center. Keep him as level as possible and attempt to avoid jostling him unnecessarily." Doom got up and brushed off his hands.

"I just got two questions," Talbain said.

With effort, Doom kept his voice level. "What?"

"Why are you bein' so nice to this guy? I heard of you, Doom. The words're usually 'evil genius'. Why do you care if he lives?"

It was a long moment before Doom answered, and when he did, his voice held an unmistakable undercurrent of scorn. "You should pay more attention to who my detractors are. This man pushed himself well beyond his limits to stand against Demitri. Alone, that would make him worthy of respect. In addition, it is quite likely that if he had not done so, both you and I would currently be bending our knees to the great god Demitri Maximov." He gestured at King. "This man has earned the eternal gratitude of Victor Von Doom. Should he die due to this extra time you have taken to question my motivations, I will be...most upset." Doom's tone left the meaning of his last two words open to a wide variety of interpretations.

Talbain's face betrayed no emotion, but he tightly nodded. Doom almost smiled, but caught himself. He knew that he had won this staredown.

"Does that answer your questions?" Doom asked, tightening his-Jago's-gloves.

"One more."

"Quickly, Garou."

"Where will you be?"

"I will be on the roof battling the vampire with Sakazaki. Haohmaru, Charlotte, and Takuma are injured, but it is not necessary for me to keep a watch on them. Pain is the most effective antidote to vampiric control, and Charlotte was cut to the bone. She has regained most of her free will, and she will be an effective guard until I return."

Talbain started to say something, but apparently thought better of it. He ran off, cradling King in his arms like a child.

Doom nodded in satisfaction. A werewolf could be an excellent ally in future endeavors, and Talbain seemed intelligent enough to mandate further association. A lesser man-wolf?-would have obeyed without question. He turned around to tell Charlotte of his plans, and stopped.

Takuma Sakazaki was gone.

Doom frowned. He had not thought Takuma capable of motion. Adjusting his opinion of the man, he moved towards the roof. But he stopped.

Something intruded upon Doom's mystical senses, triggering every alarm he had at once. Something very old, and evil beyond typical human comprehension, was now in this dimension.

Takuma would have to fend for himself.

Doom went for the elevators.

* * *

**Sub-Basement DY1**

Rose, unconscious, dreamed of fire.

She did so often, ever since she had met Akuma, but this was different. This was closer, and more urgent. Sensations nudged against her awareness-she caught fleeting impressions of fire, screaming, and endless, ceaseless rivers of pain-forcing her out of her dreams.

Forcing her awake.

"GGAAAHH!" Rose sat bolt upright, shocking the hell out of Nightwolf and Rasputin. Nightwolf bounced to his feet, looking around for someone dangerous to electrocute. Rasputin muttered something about overly violent youth before approaching Rose.

"What's wrong? Are you hurt?" Rasputin reached for his bandages. "Oftentimes, there is some physical pain or injury associated with magickal exhaustion..."

Rose brushed him off. "Can't you feel it?"

"Feel what?"

Rose gathered her scarf up and rushed for the door. "The beginning of the end. I haven't much time..." She was out of the room before either man could react.

* * *

**Control Booth**

"Yeah, I need you to engrave our trophy," Birdman said into the phone. "In an hour." Covering the receiver, he said to Scott, "John says that the threat's over. See if the security people have changed their minds about Ryo and Demitri yet." Uncovering the phone, he said, "Yeah. Same size as last year-I think you call it Monstrously Huge. 'Champion, Second Annual Video Rumble,' then, on the next line, 'Bishamon.' Yeah, I can...B. I. S. H. A-"

Wanderer poked him in the arm. "Birdman..."

"-hold on. What? If you want a job next year, talk to Brant."

"It's not that, actually. It's this." Wanderer pointed at the DimensionCam. The screen was blank.

"Yeah. So?"

"If Guy went over the ropes, shouldn't he have shown up on the DimensionCam by now?"

Birdman slowly hung up the phone. "Yeah. He should have." He moved slowly over to the screen. "Maybe it's broken."

Brant looked up. "It shouldn't be. I ran a diagnostic a couple of hours ago, and it was fine."

As they fussed over it, Wanderer looked at the monitors that showed images from ringside, his eyes scanning rapidly. He found what he was looking for a moment later, though no one else did.

As Bishamon prepared to exit the ring, a hand grabbed onto it from the side...

...a hand wearing an orange fighting glove.

_Rooftop, RumbleDome Hotel_

Ryo dodged to the side, rolled, blocked a side kick, landed a solid blow to Demitri's jaw, spun around, had his own wheel kick blocked, and fell down as Demitri clipped his leg out from underneath him.

As Ryo rolled to his feet, he looked down, off the roof, and saw the scoreboard.

Guy's name was no longer on it.

"YOU'VE **LOST**!" Ryo screamed over the helicopter and the rain.

Demitri inclined his head inquisitively.

"BISHAMON WON! THE RUMBLE IS OVER! HAOHMARU IS NO LONGER THE CHAMPION!"

Demitri smirked, slow and languid. "HARDLY! THE POWER HAS NOT LEFT! QUITE THE CONTRARY - IT'S STRONGER THAN EVER!" Demitri walked slowly at Ryo. "EVEN SO, DO YOU THINK I WOULD SPARE YOUR LIFE JUST BECAUSE OF THAT?"

Ryo gestured for him to come closer. "I'M NOT DEAD YET!"

"YOU SOUND UNGRATEFUL!" Demitri floated slowly forward, his fangs sliding out. Ryo got ready to counter, but as he moved, something dug into his side.  
He still had Heavy D!'s stake. Quickly, he slipped it out of his gi, and held it easily in his left hand.

Demitri continued to drift forward, and he smiled as he watched Ryo try to block once more. He reached out to feast, once more, on the boy's enchanted blood...

Ryo moved at the last second, and the stake went cleanly into Demitri's chest. Demitri's eyes widened in shock-

-as the stake shattered. Ryo looked at the collection of splinters in his hand, then at Demitri's chest, and then back at the splinters.

Demitri started laughing. "DIDN'T YOU THINK THAT THE INSTANT I HAD ALL THIS POWER, I WOULD REMEDY MY NATURAL WEAKNESSES?"

Ryo threw the remnants of the stake away. _Boast a little longer..._ He began to focus his own strength into his hands, and it responded in a rush. His aura began to swell slightly.

"PERHAPS YOU HAVE SOME GARLIC FOR ME? OR PERHAPS RUNNING WATER?" Demitri laughed, casting his arm across the roof, indicating the falling rain.

"NO! I HAVE SOMETHING BETTER!"

White light filled the sky.

"SHINKUU...HAOHSHOKOH**KEN**!"

* * *

**Control Booth**

As Bishamon prepared to leave the ring, a white light consumed the top of the hotel, and, by association, the section of the viewscreen that showed the fight. For a moment, there was dead silence in the audience, and then mass hysteria erupted. People scrambled for the exits, thinking that some kind of bomb had exploded in the Hotel.

Bishamon turned around towards the light. His face was very still.

"Steve! Answer me! STEVE!" Brant Rogers leaned over Birdman and hammered on the commlink to the helicopter, getting nothing but static.

Scott looked up, and shook his head. "Don't tell me something else blew up..."

Birdman bristled. "What do you mean, 'something else'?"

"I wouldn't worry about it," John said. "We've already had a couple of explosions today. When things go this wrong, it's almost never in the same way twice."

Wanderer looked at the Akashic Brother out of the corner of his eye. "I wish that didn't make sense."

"I said, 'What do you mean, _something else_'?" Birdman yelled, but his sentence was cut off by a crackle of static and a voice from the communication panel.

"...we're... alive. Yeah. We're fine. Barely. This is Steve Cranston for the Multiverse Television Network, and I'm broadcasting live from the Rumbledome in Dream City, where, immediately after the declaration of Bishamon, from the Darkstalkers node, as champion, a startling development has taken place below me! As you can see in the studio, Austin-"

Birdman hurriedly punched buttons, and the current feed from the MVTN studios came over one of the monitors. Austin Loomis and Putrid had apparently forgotten that they were on television, and both were goggle-eyed.

Finally, Austin recovered his voice. Whatever he said was converted by the MVTN censors into "...what the _smeg_?"

"Great. Loomis gets to make commentary on this before we do," Birdman said. "Why didn't you send some of our own people up there, Brant?"

"We don't have a helicopter camera crew, Birdman."

"...I knew that..."

"-Ryo Sakazaki and Demitri Maximov are facing off on the roof of the Rumbledome Hotel. While Maximov raised a lot of eyebrows earlier in the Rumble by entering the ring at a greatly enhanced power level, it would appear that Sakazaki now enjoys a similar boost! Right now, we're trying to reach the announcer's booth to ask Christopher 'Birdman' Bird what and why is happening!"

Birdman noticed the comm button from Austin's booth flashing madly. He looked around at the other people in the booth.

"So. What's happening, and why?"

"I take it we're lying," Brant noted.

"Like rugs. Any ideas?"

* * *

**Delirium (Room 1891, RumbleDome Hotel)**

Kyo could not see Iori.

He found himself, after Iori closed to fighting distance with him, in a small room, without any windows or doors, but he could see just fine. He didn't see Iori.

The Source crackled around his hands like a living thing, ready to do whatever he wanted it to. There was something wrong with the color-he remembered that much; he remembered that it had not always been black-but it didn't really matter. He didn't see Iori.

The rest of the warriors who had been out for his blood were nowhere around. He'd killed a lot of them, but he knew there were more. There were always more. But one worried him more than the rest.

Kyo couldn't see Iori.

Purple flame exploded towards his back, and Kyo whirled around, swinging his arms wildly, arcs of flame trailing them. He struck nothing.

Iori slowly walked up to Kyo and put his hands on either side of his head from behind. Cruelly, he yanked backward, pulling Kyo against his chest, and sank down to his knees, Kyo's head in his lap. Violet Sourcefires crackled up and down Kyo's body, preventing him from moving without burning himself to the bone.

"Listen to me, Kyo," Iori hissed, "and pay attention, for I will only say this once."

Kyo shuddered underneath him, and tried to blast his way free. Iori countered it, his own fires burning momentarily hotter, the black flame wincing away from the light.

Iori whispered, very calmly, into Kyo's ear, "Look at yourself, Kusanagi. Look at what you have been made to become." He held a hand before Kyo's eyes, glistening with internal violet flames. "You have become a dark mirror of yourself, as I have always been. You wield my flames. You act with my recklessness." Iori sighed, and ran the same hand down Kyo's cheek, leaving a red trail on his skin. "There can only be one of me, Kusanagi."

The gentle hold Iori had on Kyo turned into the Maiden Masher.

"THERE. CAN. ONLY. BE. ONE. IORI. YAGAMI!" Iori screamed, punctuating every word with a vicious overhand blow, raging against Kyo like a madman. As he landed a final blow, he picked Kyo up by the lapel of his jacket. Violet fire surged. "And that is me," Iori whispered.

Kyo rose into the air moments later on a funeral pyre. His skin boiled. The moisture in his body reached flashpoint, his unnatural resistance to heat (his birthright as a Source user) the only thing saving him from simply exploding like a potato in a microwave.

But it still hurt. A lot.

Not coincidentally, pain is one of the things that can break a vampire's charm.

When Kyo finally returned to the floor, he felt like every nerve ending he had was exposed and bathed in salt; his skin seemed to be boiling with acid and venom. He fought back the impulse to claw his arms and face, and slowly climbed to his feet.

As Kyo got up, Iori noted that the look of madness had departed from his eyes.

Kyo demanded, "What the hell is going on, Iori?"

Iori swung his arm and cast a Yami Barai at him, sparking across the ground. Kyo instinctively threw one of his own, to cancel the fireball-and noticed the color of his flames. The fires that clashed were both a violent, sparking purple.

In the back of his head, Kyo heard Saishu's mocking laughter.

Iori smiled, as tears ran down Kyo's face. "It's about time you understood. I've often found you foolish, but never actively stupid before."

Kyo got up. "Did you do this to me, Yagami? DID YOU?!"

"Hardly. You did this to yourself, whelp."

The truth struck Kyo to the core, and he seemed, to Yagami's eyes, as if his bones had melted within his skin. He had gone against every rule he had ever been taught about the Source, willingly... and it had taken his greatest enemy to bring him back.

The fires crackling around his arms slowly faded back to orange.

Iori nodded in satisfaction. "So has it been. So shall it always be."

"What in the hell are you talking about?"

"Just close your eyes, Kyo." Iori came closer, and put out his hands palms up. Flame crackled across them. "Close your eyes, and await the inevitable end," he whispered. "You are yourself again. And you are still my enemy. Until death. Yours."

Kyo raised his fists. "Hardly, Yagami."

"Then let us finish it, _kisama_."

"Tonight? Forever?" Kyo asked. He readied himself.

Iori smiled. "Of course not." He raised his hands. "Only I decide when forever ends."

* * *

**Wreckage, Room 1891, RumbleDome Hotel**

The structure of flames collapsed two minutes later.

It was abrupt; one moment, there was a wall of ebon fire, the next, it was dying down and shattering like obsidian. In five seconds all that was left of the wall was its creator.

Kyo Kusanagi lay in the center of a scorched circle of earth. He was unconscious.

Of Iori Yagami, there was no sign.

* * *

**The Ring**

Bishamon watched the light from the roof die. His equipment was blessedly silent.

Had Demitri's plan succeeded after all? Bishamon had no idea what the birth of a god would look like; an explosion was certainly one possibility. But Haohmaru had not been on the roof, or at least he had not been onscreen, and there was a new champion of the Rumble. Demitri could not have fulfilled his plan.

He couldn't have.

Bishamon headed out of the ring. He would have to look for himself.

Meanwhile, Birdman was a little upset. This is an understatement. "Demitri and Ryo are a '_Special Grudge Match_'? Was that excuse at the bottom of your box of popcorn?"

"I find myself noting, Birdman, that you didn't have a better idea," Wanderer retorted. "Would you like me to tell the audience that there's a fight on the roof of the hotel to determine the next God? As bad as things are, a riot would make them worse, to say nothing of the fact that another tournament already **had** that idea..."

"Yeah, I know," Birdman grumbled. "By the way, Brant, is there anything wrong with that viewer?" He continued sarcastically, "Did Guy go into Golden Axe II, perhaps?"

Brant looked up from it. "No, I don't think-"

"WAIT."

The audience hushed abruptly, and the relay from the ringside microphones echoed into the booth. Slowly, the staff looked up from what they were doing.

Bishamon stopped in his tracks.

In the control booth, Birdman's eyes nearly popped out of his head.

Wanderer smiled slowly. "All **right**..."

Misty John slapped himself in the forehead.

"This fight...is **not** over..."

Slowly, Guy pulled himself back into the ring.

* * *

**Lobby, Rumbledome Hotel**

The doors opened, and Doom rudely brushed by a number of maids as he strode out of the elevator car. The disturbance he sensed was nearby. He could taste it, like sulfur and wine, at the back of his throat.

As he walked, the second elevator car opened, and Rose, wearily, exited. Doom turned, feeling her aura, and nodded his greeting.

Rose nodded back. "Are you still Doom?"

"For the nonce," Doom responded in Romanian. "I believe we are here for the same reasons?"

"Most likely." Rose spoke in the same language.

"Excellent. Do you know what we face?"

Rose's mouth thinned to a line. "I've some idea."

"Then you may lead." Doom bowed as she walked past him.

The two of them walked out the front doors, and around. White light died from the top of the hotel, the fight between Ryo and Demitri distant and meaningless half a mile above, and a distinct feeling of tension and unease pervaded the entire 'Dome. To the mundanes, it was completely understandable at this late date in the Rumble. To Doom and Rose, though, the air was unmistakable.

Rose and Doom stood at the edge of a crater visible only to those with the trained eyes to see. They stared into the mouth of a tunnel to chaos.

Hell defies description. It always has.

The Dark Guy had come to the Rumble.

For a long moment, neither moved. Then, Doom shook himself, seeming to come awake, and turned Rose away from the hole before they both lost their souls.

"He's... actually... there..." Rose murmured. "He's waiting..."

"I know." Doom was calm. He had, after all, done this before. "And I know for what."

* * *

**Wreckage, Room 1891, RumbleDome Hotel**

Terry was slowing down.

Cyclops' firing pattern began to cage him in. He dodged around the onslaught as best he could, and tried to work his way in close, but Cyclops knew what he was doing. The X-Man, standing against the wall, calmly blocked Terry into a smaller and smaller space, limiting the room he had to move.

Finally, it paid off; one blast clipped across Terry's upper arm, drawing blood, and as Terry clutched reflexively at this new wound, a second shot struck him in the knee, rendering most of that leg numb. Terry slumped to the floor.

Cyclops smiled confidently, and began to draw in power for a final, consuming blast. Red energy began to leak out from his visor, obscuring his vision.

At the same time, Terry's eyes narrowed, and the pain in his leg grew distant. Cyclops had stopped firing. Terry pushed himself off the ground with his good leg, chi surging up his body into his extended arm, sheet lightning engulfing his hand.

Cyclops yelled, "MEGA OPTIC-"

Through the haze of energy from his eyes, Cyclops' vision was suddenly filled by Terry's glowing fist. He caught a brief and distinct whiff of ozone.

* * *

"**BURN KNUCKLE!**"

There was a sharp report as Cyclops' jaw broke. More importantly, his finger spasmed on the trigger in his costume's glove, slamming his visor shut again. The Mega Optic Blast expended itself harmlessly against the ruby-quartz shield inside.

"Now," Terry said with satisfaction, pulling Cyclops to his feet by the front of his uniform, "we're gonna have words." Cyclops tried to fire, to knock this madman away from him, but Terry saw his finger twitch and the visor begin to open. Terry brought one fist back and drove it forward, crushing the visor against Cyclops' head.

Cyclops flipped the switch again. Then again. Then back and forth really fast. He realized that the visor no longer could open. All that happened was a rapid clicking sound.

Terry smiled. It was not a nice smile at all.

Then he kicked some ass.

Across the room, in an entirely different state of affairs:

"DIE! DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE... no, wait... yeah. DIE! AHAHAHAHAHAAHAH!" Mizuki's sorceries assaulted Ryu at every turn. The Shotokan fighter trembled from numerous trips to hell, and wounds from her gohei striped across his arms and chest. It was a testament to his skill that he hadn't been transformed into a pig, cut in half, caught in an explosion, or disoriented, but Mizuki was working on it.

Ryu leaped over a mystic orb (which struck Sodom), and threw a flying roundhouse at Mizuki. The kick struck air, and Ryu landed roughly, as Mizuki cackled and sank into one of her portals, which spat her back out behind Ryu.

As Ryu jumped a second time to avoid another glowing sphere (which bounced off the wall into Sodom's back; he started teleporting around the room in a series of explosions as Heavy D! looked on bemusedly), he turned around and threw a Hadoken at the priestess, who calmly stepped to the side and let the fireball move past her. As she turned back to Ryu (ignoring Sodom's remateralization, both jittes broken, directly in front of the stray Hadoken), she noticed Ryu moving towards her in a Hurricane Kick.

She cackled, and sank out of consensual space again.

Ryu frowned as he landed. In another human being, this would have been representative of a fifteen-minute cursing streak.

As Mizuki reappeared from her portal, though, his eyebrows shot back up. An idea occurred to him.

Mizuki came forward slashing at him with her gohei. Ryu blocked stoically, and leapt in again with a powerful kick. As she sank into her portal again to avoid it, Ryu tucked his legs in and landed at its edge.

As Mizuki ran through hell to reappear on Earth, Ryu, looking down, glowed as he concentrated his chi into his hands.

A Shinkuu Hadoken disappeared into the portal just as it closed.

The results were appropriately spectacular.

A moment later, the portal opened behind him, and Ryu was treated to the once-in-a-lifetime sight of Rashoujin Mizuki, sorceress, high priestess of the Dark Guy, and scourge of medieval Japan, launched into the air like a cannonball out of her own portal. She left a plume of smoke behind her as she flew.

If he hadn't been in the middle of a fight, Ryu would have smiled.

As Mizuki came down from the sky, Ryu took two steps towards her, winding up directly underneath her, and concentrated for a second time. The room dimmed; Ryu glowed; Mizuki seemed to pause in the air for a moment.

"SHINKUU..."

Mizuki's eyes widened for a frozen span of time.

"...TATSUMAKI SENPUUKYAKU!"

Pain ensued. Mizuki bounced around under the force of Ryu's kick like a tennis ball in a dryer. As Ryu slowed, she hit the ground with a heavy thump.

Slowly, she pulled herself back to her feet, and pointed her gohei at Ryu.

He tensed, ready for anything.

She slowly opened her mouth. All that came out was, "...my... doggy..." before she fell over once more, her eyes rolled up in her head.

Notably, she hit the ground at about the same time an **extremely** battered Cyclops did.

Ryu looked over at Terry. "Are you all right, Bogard-san?"

Terry adjusted his cap. He was still smiling disturbingly. "Never better. You?"

"I am also well."

Suddenly, a harsh crack sounded over the din of the battle. Both Ryu and Terry looked up and watched as the prone form of Sodom came flying between them, impacting with the wall next to Ryu and bouncing forward onto his knees.

Looking up at them both, he weakly said, "Mad Gear... will... destroy you all..." before falling forward on his face.

Terry looked confused. "What the hell was that about?"

Ryu shrugged. "I have often thought this man is insane."

Heavy D! jogged up to the two of them. "How you guys doin'?"

Terry clapped him on the back. "Just fine. Nice work."

D! shrugged. "Easiest fight I've ever had. This guy's got the worst luck in the world."

Ryu nodded. "Sodom is not known for his fortune. What shall we do-"

There was not a lot left of the wall separating the suite from the hallway, but a chunk out of it vaporized just the same. The smell of scorched plaster filled the room, but most of the people inside were already used to it. However, a more disturbing feeling came with it - that of flame, and anger, and cold fear.

Through the hole, a figure flew in a ragged arc, crashing to the ground in a heap directly in front of Ryu. It wore the burned remnants of a yellow-and-blue uniform, and the claws extending out of the gloves glowed white-hot with fading fire.

Wolverine groaned weakly, trying to get back to his feet.

D! and Terry looked at each other. "Oh, **sh-**"

"HUMANS!" someone - some_thing_ \- bellowed.

Pyron focused on Ryu, Terry, and D!, stalking through the rest of the fighting as though it was somewhere else. The alien's chest, neck, and arms (or the equivalents thereof) rhythmically bled flame from numerous deep wounds, gushing down his chest and leaving trails behind it of slow-burning liquid fire. It seemed a bit wobbly, but no less powerful than before.

"WHERE IS KYO KUSANAGI?!"

"Crap. It woke up." D! turned to Ryu and Terry. "Don't tell him."

Ryu, being very careful not to glance at where Kyo lay, assumed his stance. "You will have to fight us for that information."

D! did a double-take. "What the hell d'you mean _us_?" he demanded.

"He means we're gonna kick this thing's ass all over this node before it so much as **sees** Kyo." Terry stepped up next to Ryu and gestured for Pyron to come closer.

"Very well," Pyron crackled softly. "I shall have to be sure to leave you voices with which to speak."

* * *

**Rooftop, RumbleDome Hotel**

Ryo waited for his eyes to clear. Around him, white light fled into the darkness, reflecting off of the falling rain and surrounding him with short-lived rainbows. It was a spectacularly beautiful effect that he didn't have time to appreciate.

A shallow streak of polished concrete stretched the length of the roof away from him, like a gutter, ending abruptly with a large crater in the side of the roof. The helicopter, which had been orbiting the roof tightly for some reason (Ryo didn't notice the camera), now pulled away, keeping a more respectful distance.

Demitri stood weakly in the center of the "gutter". His eyes were vacant. Most of his clothing was gone, blown into nothingness by the force of the blast, but his aura flared fiercer than ever, obscuring the finer details of his form in a blinding sheen of blue.

"I had... no idea..." Demitri said, almost to himself. With the helicopter's departure, he no longer had to scream to be heard. His back straightened, and his eyes met Ryo's. "I underestimated both your power, and your willingness to use it."

Ryo nodded, waiting calmly for the other shoe to drop.

Demitri nodded back. "In other times, Sakazaki, I would consider you a worthy foe. I do not say that about many upon this side of life. Cherish that."

"Somehow, I doubt I will."

Demitri's form disappeared into shadow with a slight sound of rushing air.

"That, Sakazaki, is your privilege." Demitri's fists struck Ryo in the back, a blow that would have shattered another man's spine. Ryo rolled with it, only to find himself in the arms of the vampire a second time as Demitri teleported ahead of him.

Demitri slammed him into the roof a second time, headfirst, crushing concrete into vapor.

Ryo knew he was in trouble.

Demitri grabbed his leg and tried to bite into his foot, into the cluster of veins behind the ankle. Ryo planted his hands on the roof and kicked out, one foot into Demitri's jaw and the other into his nose, slamming the vampire's mouth shut with a sound like a drawbridge going down. A fang chipped.

As Demitri clapped both hands to his mouth, Ryo brought his feet down, rolled forward, and came up to his feet. As Demitri rushed forward, Ryo spun on his heel and tried to sweep him off his feet; this failed, largely due to the fact that Demitri was no longer on the ground. Demitri scooped Ryo off of the ground and out of his crouch, bringing both of them ten feet into the air and punching Ryo viciously downward.

Ryo fell roughly to the roof surface, bounced, and tried to get up. He couldn't. Demitri's foot was on his chest.

"Good try," Demitri said, unruffled and calm once again. "Better than most before you." Ryo didn't answer, busy trying to get up. "But, of course, doomed to-"

Demitri fell over like he'd been poleaxed. Ryo's feet had found the inside of Demitri's free kneecap.

Ryo somersaulted backwards. One of his feet found no purchase, and he scrambled for a second. Looking down, he found himself standing at the blasted hole in the roof's edge.

Demitri got to his feet. Both stared at each other for a moment, waiting to see who would make the next move.

Then, both began wondering why it had suddenly become very warm.

A look over the edge of the roof answered that question.

Below them, a small spot in the pavement before the hotel's entrance boiled the angry red of infected skin, radiating a rising pillar of heat and steam. From Ryo and Demitri's vantage point, it seemed about the size of a manhole cover, but something about it pulled vision forward. Even from their height, both Ryo and Demitri could see every detail, from the cracks upon its surface to Rose and Jago standing at its edge.

It was a portal, and it led to a throneroom. Neither of them had ever seen Charlotte's home in Versailles, but if they had, the similarity wouldn't have gone unnoticed. Draperies, depicting brutalities from throughout the world, hung upon the walls, and velvet carpeting covered the floor. An elaborate mural, its brushwork too complex for the mortal mind to follow,  
took up an entire wall behind the throne.

Slowly, as if enjoying the anticipation, the inhabitant of the throne, surrounded by his 'court' of demons and the damned, rose from his seat. He appeared as a man in a carefully chosen gray business suit, tie, and fedora. Diamonds glittered from his cufflinks and his teeth shone white in a lying genuine smile. The blood that churned below the surface of his skin gave the illusion away.

Demitri's eyes widened, and Ryo swallowed hard.

HELLO, DEMITRI, the Dark Guy said. Even with the distance between them, his voice echoed clearly in their minds. I BELIEVE WE'VE REACHED SOMETHING OF AN IMPASSE HERE.

"I'm going to give you what you want!" Demitri screamed back at him. "I just need more time!" The vampire began to sweat blood.

TIME IS A LUXURY, IF YOU'LL PARDON THE EXPRESSION, THAT YOU NO LONGER HAVE. YOU PROMISED ME BLOOD AND DESTRUCTION; YOU'VE GIVEN ME THAT, THOUGH IT HAS BEEN WOEFULLY CONFINED TO THIS PALTRY DIMENSION. MORE TO THE POINT, I SEE THAT YOU MANAGED TO AVOID REVEALING YOUR PLANS DIRECTLY TO ME THE FIRST TIME WE SPOKE, AS IF IT MATTERED... DO YOU HONESTLY THINK THAT NO ONE HAS EVER TRIED TO CHALLENGE ME FOR DOMINION OF HELL BEFORE? OR THAT I DID NOT KNOW WHEN ONE OF MY SERVANTS INTENDED TO TRY?

Demitri's expression didn't change.

I ADMIRE YOUR AMBITION, BUT I OBVIOUSLY CAN'T ALLOW YOU TO CARRY THROUGH WITH IT. WHAT'S MORE, I WANT THE SOUL OF THE SAMURAI, DEMITRI. HE HAS INTERFERED WITH MY PLANS TOO OFTEN TO BE ALLOWED FURTHER EXISTENCE. AND, SEEING AS HOW I DON'T HAPPEN TO SEE THE SAMURAI AROUND ANYWHERE, IT WOULD APPEAR THAT I'M GOING TO HAVE TO CONTENT MYSELF WITH YOURS. The Dark Guy made a vague, all-encompassing gesture with his hand. AND, OF COURSE, THIS INTERESTING LITTLE NODE HERE.

Demitri immediately rushed at Ryo. Ryo threw himself out of the way; the vampire's hands instead gouged into the rooftop's surface.

Ryo came out of his roll standing. "What in the hell..."

"You heard him," Demitri said, throwing a Vampire Rage. As Ryo flipped forward over it, Demitri Demon Cradled him out of the air. Ryo hit the rooftop hard. Demitri teleported again, picked Ryo up, and sent him flying towards the edge. "He wants my soul. Therefore, he's going to have to content himself with **yours**."

As Ryo dodged around Demitri, the Dark Guy's laughter shook their minds.

* * *

**First Floor (administration), Control Tower**

"I'm telling you, the people have a right to know!"

Kelly sighed. Ever since she'd taken this job as the secretary for the Video Rumble, she had dealt with a lot of pushy people-supervillains, mutants, monsters, time-travelers, Mormons, that sort of thing-but this kid took the cake.

He wore a trenchcoat and fedora, with a small hand-lettered sign reading "Press" sticking out of the fedora's brim, over a T-shirt and slacks. He gestured importantly with a notepad, like some high-school kid's idea of how a newspaper reporter should look, and in general kept maintaining that he should be let into the control booth. It was bad enough that other kid-Wilde-had managed to accidentally wander up there, but two in one Rumble would cost Kelly her job.

She cut off the kid's ranting with one upraised finger. "Listen, Jimmy Olsen, they aren't letting anyone up there. Especially press. Especially not now. You'll get your chance, *assuming* you're what you say you are, at the press conference after the Rumble. Now vamoose."

"Are you trying to say that you don't respect the First Amend-"

Kelly pulled open the bottom drawer of her desk and pulled out her Official Secretarial Tool Of Choice-a double-barrelled shotgun (a small tag hanging off of the barrel said 'With love, the gang at Id')-and leveled it at the kid. "I'm trying to say that you've met and exceeded my capacity to be annoyed. Split or be split, kiddo."

The kid muttered something vulgar and let himself out.

Kelly put the shotgun on top of the file cabinet and shuffled her papers. Yet another crisis, capably handled. What would they do without her?

* * *

**Wreckage, Penthouse Floor, RumbleDome Hotel**

"You... are... a **magnificent** foe!" Kintaro marveled. Colossus handily took every bit of damage the Shokan took out, and dealt back as much, if not more. It had been a long time since Kintaro had fought anyone who required his full strength and skill. He was in his element.

The man of metal swung his fist without a word in return. Kintaro reached out both right arms and caught Colossus' punch, retaliating with a heavy overhand blow from both left arms. Colossus' skin made a heavy ringing sound as both shots connected, but didn't flinch or go down.

The series of three fireballs Kintaro spat, on the other hand, _did_ take him down.

As he caught his breath, Kintaro took stock of the situation. Looking around, he realized just where his fight had taken him; he was well-removed from the rest of the action. Point of fact, he was in another room entirely, one that seemed unoccupied save for three fat ruffians lying unconscious in the far corner. Kintaro looked down at Colossus. He needed to disable this man temporarily-the fight could be taken up later, when he was not under the vampiress's control-and get back to Demitri's suite.

Colossus interrupted this line of reasoning by grabbing Kintaro by both ankles, hooking him off his feet, and swinging him around in a circle, preparing to launch Kintaro through several walls and out of the building. However, he was not used to fighting a Shokan, and, as such, was unsure what to do when Kintaro's lower arms grabbed onto his legs and jerked them out from under him.

Both fighters went down in a heap. Kintaro, however, caught his fall with his two unoccupied arms and rolled upright. As Colossus rose, Kintaro clutched both sets of hands together and launched the single mightiest attack of his life, a double double-fisted uppercut that had every bit of his formidable strength behind it.

A normal man, had he been struck, would have turned into a wet bag of pulp. Colossus simply disappeared as though fired from a cannon, the sound of Kintaro's fists meeting his chin that of the mightiest church bell. The X-Man arced out over the ring and plummeted to earth, feeling a vague sense of deja vu.

Kintaro dusted his hands together and saluted Colossus, although he was gone, with a Shokan warrior's farewell, before hurrying back to the vampire's room.

* * *

**Control Booth (just outside front door)**

Jon kicked at the wall. It had been such a good plan.

He knew he could do a better job of commenting or commentating or whatever it was called than that Wanderer kid could, and all that guy had had to do was walk in at the right time. Once he was in there, it would be a snap! Just a few witty comments, to show off his knowledge and skill, and he'd be in. Why, Birdman would kick Wanderer out of the booth in a flat second.

Now, how to get that secretary out of the way... Jon settled down to think.

He didn't notice the shadow he was standing in until it was too late.

* * *

**Control Booth**

"I can't believe this is happening, folks," Birdman said. "Guy has pulled himself back into the ring! He looks mad, and Bishamon looks shocked to see him! This could..." Birdman's voice trailed off as he noticed something flying towards the booth.

That something was Colossus doing his meteor impression.

Wanderer, his eyes wide, completed the thought. "This could suck out loud."

"EVERYONE GET DOWN!" Brant screamed. Every inhabitant of the control booth hit the floor at once, paper and liquor bottles flying everywhere.

At the last second, though, something happened to save them all.

To someone watching, it would have appeared that Colossus executed a perfect right-angle turn in mid-air, burying himself in the pavement at the base of the control tower just before he would have come through the glass. It was absolutely spectacular, and completely unfeasible by every law of physics in existence.

Misty John rose to his feet, a bottle in his hand. "You're welcome, guys."

"Remind me to give you a raise." Birdman shook slightly. Next to him, under the counter, Wanderer shook quite obviously, and gibbered a little as well.  
"Have a drink. It's on me."

"I think I might just have to, yeah." John pulled a second bottle out.

"Was anyone hurt?" Scott asked.

"I don't think-" Brant looked outside. "Never mind."

* * *

**Control Tower (base)**

Kelly rushed out of the front door to see what the hell had made that noise.

A massive gleaming steel man, Coliseum or something like that if she remembered right, was buried up to his waist in the pavement, two crushed cars on either side of him, so all that was visible of him were his legs, bent over at the waist. Faintly, from within the crater, Kelly thought she heard the man groan.

She was wrong. The "kid reporter" she'd ordered out earlier lay unconscious underneath one of the man's legs. It was he that was doing the groaning.

Kelly walked calmly back into the office. "Yeah, this is Kelly, down in the office. I think I'm gonna need a medical team down here." She looked outside for a moment, and squinted at the wreckage. "Yeah, and I think _they're _gonna need a jack and a spatula..."

* * *

**Wreckage, Room 1891, RumbleDome Hotel**

"Thank you, Ryu, for this fight," D! muttered. "I'm enjoying the hell out of it."

No one listened to him. The crackling of Pyron's flames drowned out all but the loudest sounds. The alien's anger translated into raw heat, enough to fuse stone to glass, thus making it very hard to fight him effectively. Ryu's Hadokens were effectively useless-throwing fireballs at Pyron was similar to using a squirt gun on a swimming pool-and while Terry's Power Waves were a little more effective, that was still not saying quite a lot. Closing to attack him was suicidal.

D! sidestepped quickly, and watched a meteor fly by him and out the window. For the first time, he thought about how much he really did need a projectile.

Suddenly, there was a puff of smoke from behind Pyron, and the alien seemed to visibly slow down. The smoke obscured its form, and its fire died away.

Unfortunately, Pyron just turned his flames up and turned around. "WHO **DARES**?!"

Yoshimitsu, holding a fire extinguisher, muttered, "And now it's time for another Good Idea, Bad Idea," and ran for his life.

Pyron threw a meteor after Yoshimitsu, intending to incinerate the robot. As it flew, a hand reached out and slammed the meteor to the ground like a volleyball. The projectile burned through the floor and impacted into the hallway below.

"YOU!" Pyron roared.

"Indeed," Kintaro said mildly. As he jumped towards Pyron, the alien transformed itself into a fiery ring, knocking them both down.

Kintaro, once he was on his feet, powerslammed Pyron, burning himself badly and ignoring it. The sound shook the entire floor, knocking fighters and the remaining furniture over. Pyron instantly retaliated with a Fiery Planets, engulfing Kintaro in flame. The Shokan's fur disappeared in a flash, and Kintaro roared in rage.

Meanwhile, in the hallway outside, a figure moved among the bodies of the fallen fighters. Stopping beside one of them, it gestured, and the fighter came awake suddenly.

"Good evening, Robert," the figure said. "You're needed."

"What? Who? YOU!"

"Of course it's me, Robert," the figure said, sounding tired. "It's nearly always me."

"But why?"

"Later. Right now, you're needed."

Back in the suite, Pyron laughed, and surrounded Kintaro with fire, ignoring Terry and Ryu's attempts to distract. The Shokan growled and threw a haymaker through the walls of flame separating them, hitting Pyron squarely on the "chin". This cut its laughter short rather abruptly.

"You will pay for that," Pyron promised. "Starting now." It began to glow like a small sun, making its previous radiance look wan. Kintaro's image began to warp in a heat mirage, his moisture slowly baking out of him.

A burst of white energy from behind Kintaro saved the Shokan's life, stopping Pyron's heat discharge with an equally intense burst of cold. The alien screamed, and attempted to incinerate its attacker with a flaming meteor. Iceman simply froze the meteor and shattered it when it drew near.

The fighting between them was fierce, and the outcome was never truly in doubt.

Pyron, now an ice sculpture, stood at the end of the hallway, an unconscious Kintaro lying at its feet. The smell of burned Shokan filled the air.

Iceman looked around, trying to find the man who'd awakened him. "Where..."

Ryu and Terry ran out into the hallway. "Thanks, man," Terry said. "We were running out of tricks."

"No problem," Iceman said absently.

"Is there something wrong?" Ryu asked.

"Just one thing," Iceman said. "Where's Magneto?"

* * *

**The Ring**

"Well, there's something you don't see every day," one of the flames commented, watching Colossus fly overhead en route to planting himself in the concrete.

"We have other things to worry about," the armor said mildly.

Bishamon buckled as Guy Bushin Slide Kicked into his kneecap. As he did so, Guy kicked himself to his feet and hit Bishamon five distinct times, feet and fists flying like bullets.

"Case in point," the armor observed.

Bishamon groaned in pain. "Could you stop the witticisms for a moment and think about tactics?" As Guy drew near a second time, Bishamon drew blood with a quick jab, swinging up and around into an overhead chop that shaved a great deal of skin from Guy's left arm. The Street Fighter simply ignored it and kneed Bishamon in the face before axe-kicking him to the ground.

"Hit him until he falls down," the flames suggested.

"Thank you. Now I remember-it's a curse." Bishamon flung both flames out at Guy as he jumped backward, trying to get room to plan. They bounced off of Guy's block.

"Just trying to help in our own special way."

Guy feinted a kick to Bishamon's stomach. Bishamon wasn't fooled, and hooked Guy's free leg out from under him with the blunt edge of his blade. As the ninja struck the mat, Bishamon thrust downward, the sword's tip going for Guy's throat. Guy rolled out of its way, rolled back the opposite way to dodge another thrust, rolled forward to avoid the subsequent attack at his head, and kicked Bishamon squarely in the crotch.

Metal echoed. Men winced. The armor voiced a loud complaint.

Bishamon didn't react. Being a cursed spirit has its advantages. Not a lot, granted, but some.

Guy quickly somersaulted forward and dove between Bishamon's legs, coming out on his hands and springing away as Bishamon turned around.

"They are going to try to throw each other out of the ring _eventually_, right?" Wanderer asked.

"I hope so." Birdman covered the mike and shouted something unintelligible and violent into the phone. "Change the scoreboard! You heard me. Put Guy's name back on it. I don't care, **break** the damned thing if you have to! No, I don't care. I'm already going to have to rebuild the damned hotel, what's a scoreboard here and there?"

"About thirty-seven hundred fifty without labor," Brant volunteered.

"Oh, shut up."

Guy barely got out of the way as Bishamon brought his sword down. The ninja handsprung over Bishamon's head, twisted in midair, air-blocked one of the flames, and clipped Bishamon's legs out from under him.

As Bishamon got to his feet, visibly exhausted, Guy pointed at him. "I'm... going... to say this once. Do _you_...wish... the hari-kiri?" Guy couldn't seem to catch his breath.

"I... can't." With effort, Bishamon brought his sword back into his stance. "Believe me... I've... tried..."

"Just remember... I asked..." Guy charged him for the last time.

* * *

**Wreckage, Room 1891, RumbleDome Hotel**

Dan hit the floor, blood pouring down his face, and wiped it out of his eyes. He was used to getting the living crap beaten out of him on a regular basis, but this was exceeding even his limits.

Hearing an exclamation, he rolled over and threw a Gadoken, managing-barely-to dispel a Soul Fist before it could reach him. Morrigan - _a_ Morrigan, anyway - came slowly towards him, still glistening faintly from her birth, faint streaks of blood running from her mouth and knuckles.

"Hello, little boy," the Morrigan said with a cheerful grin. "Would you like to hear a bedtime story before you go to sleep?"

"If I say no, will it make a difference?" Dan asked, getting to his feet.

"Once upon a time, there was a little boy in a pink gi." The Morrigan stepped casually towards him. Dan kicked her in the stomach, and she didn't react. "He poked his nose in where it didn't belong. In this-"

Dan punched her in the jaw. She simply reached up, stuck it back into place with a wet clicking sound, and continued, "In this place, where the little boy's nose didn't belong, there was an evil witch. At least, that's what people always called her, and she didn't really care what people thought, so I guess she really was an evil witch." Dan backed away frantically, and felt his back hit the wall. "She caught the little boy and his friend _peeping_." The doppleganger put one hand to her cheek in a mock gesture of shock. "Can you believe it?"

This was freaking Dan out. "KORYUREKKA!"

The Morrigan blocked both Dragon Punches and grabbed Dan. "And do you know what evil witches do to _nosy_ little boys?"

Dan swallowed hard.

"You don't want to know. Trust me." She threw Dan against the wall behind him, holding him there with one hand. Her spikes rose up behind her like a peacock's feathers. "But it would feel a lot like this..."

Dan, perhaps mercifully, blacked out moments later.

Meanwhile, Robert was faring about as well as Dan had. The Morrigan he faced was the same one who had been fighting most of the day, but Robert wasn't exactly fresh either.

"Robert, Robert, Robert," the Morrigan lamented, a spike stabbing across Robert's shoulder. "You know that you aren't good enough to win, so why are you bothering?"

"Because I'm a whole lot better than you think, bitch." Robert jsidestepped another Shadow Blade. As Morrigan came back to the ground, Robert slammed into her back and side with a flurry of dancing kicks, ending with a vicious roundhouse that sent her into the air.

Unfortunately, the second Morrigan appeared, flying up after the first. Plucking the first Morrigan out of the air, she set her gently down.

"Oh, crap..." Robert muttered.

"How are you doing, dear?" the second Morrigan politely asked.

"I've been better," the first admitted. "What should we do about this one?"

The second Morrigan licked Dan's blood contemplatively from her mouth. "We should probably kill him..."

"I completely agree."

A new voice, smooth and cultured, cut in. "Excuse me, ladies."

Both Morrigans turned around.

"But did you know four out of five Yoshimitsu units surveyed think killing Robert is a bad idea?"

The second Morrigan screamed as Yoshimitsu's energy blade seared through her from left shoulder to right hip. As the two pieces fell apart, nothing was revealed on the inside save darkness, as Morrigan's invested power lost its physical form and discorporated. The doppleganger's body was gone before the pieces hit the floor.

"Isn't that incredible?" Yoshimitsu exclaimed. "And it's still sharp enough to slice through this tomato!" He stabbed at Morrigan, who, although doubled over from sympathetic pain, still had enough presence of mind to block it.

"Little creature," she snarled, "you **annoy** me! SUPER SOUL FIST!"

The psychic bat slammed into Yoshi, sending the robot tumbling sword-over-teakettle. Morrigan smirked.

Her satisfaction didn't last.

A Ryuken hit her squarely in the face. Robert came flying after his fireball, his entire body firmly behind a flying roundhouse kick to Morrigan's head.

As Morrigan got up, her head rolling at an odd angle, Robert dashed in-

-and a fan appeared in his shoulder like a magic trick.

Robert wrenched it out and dodged backward as Mai advanced, throwing her maiougi ninety-to-nothing from whatever dimensional space she conjured them all from. Blades seemed to fill the air, cutting across Robert's arms and chest like a storm of crows.

Morrigan got up, her neck intact again, and through the tattered ruin of her face, smiled at Mai. "Thank you, dear." Morrigan concentrated, and new skin began to form over the front of her skull.

Mai beamed. She had pleased her Mistress. She was happier than she had ever been.

Of course, that didn't last long. Yuri, several feet behind Mai and slumped against the wall, opened her eyes and weakly coughed. She felt broiled; Mai had snuck in a Flame Flash Kick and stunned her for a couple of minutes. Fortunately, Mai was distracted; by what, Yuri couldn't see well enough to tell.

Shaking her head (which was a mistake; the colors were astonishing), Yuri staggered to her knees, and looked around. The first thing she saw was Mai.

Yuri got to her feet, gritting her teeth. "Shiranui," she yelled, her voice coarse, "**WE'RE NOT DONE YET**! RAIKOHKEN!"

Mai heard her, and hastily turned around. A fireball struck the ground in front of her and exploded, setting her alight.

As Yuri landed, Mai staggered away, then forward, planting her hands and cartwheeling into her Cho Hissatsu Shinobibachi. As Mai left the ground, elbow extended, the entirety of her body burst into violent orange flame.

Yuri couldn't dodge or block; she didn't have the time. Instead, she jumped forward to meet Mai, feet extended, screaming "HIEN HOUOU KYAKU!" Her legs blurred, like she'd done to the giant Zeus, striking the fiery Mai a thousand times or more within a second. Unfortunately, Yuri's attack, while powerful, also left her open, and Mai's flaming elbow took her firmly in the solar plexus.

Yuri hit the floor burning, barely alive.

Mai fell, more broken ribs than cracked and more cracked ribs than whole.

Yuri weakly hoisted herself onto her elbows, looking at Mai, trying to inch closer to her so she could at least fall on top of her if need be.

Mai opened her eyes and looked into Yuri's. It was barely visible, but the wounds on her neck had closed. She finally whispered, "Yuri... I'm so sorry..." She reached out one trembling hand as her eyes closed again.

Yuri took Mai's hand. "It's... it's not your fault..."

Both women passed out, lying across from each other on the floor.

Morrigan snarled at them, her face once again recognizable. "It's so hard to get good help these days..." She rushed at Robert, who was busy pulling fans out of his skin, her fingers stiffened into claws, and raked across his chest with both hands. Blood and cloth flew; Robert screamed.

A Super Shadow Blade found its mark, and threw him thirty feet away. As he staggered up, blood pouring down his forehead and chest, Morrigan licked one of her spikes, and grinned.

"Spicy," she purred. "An acquired taste, I'd bet." Robert threw a weak fireball at her, his injuries starting to slow him down, and she barely noticed. "Come on... you might even enjoy it."

"No way," Robert snarled, walking forward. His knees shook.

"Your loss..." Morrigan backed away from him, quickly, so quickly that Robert didn't realize what she was doing and charged after her. Flying forward suddenly in a Valkyrie Turn, Morrigan's drill found its mark. Robert screamed in agony.

He slumped over, but Morrigan didn't let him fall. "Now, now, Robert... we've still got a lot of fun ahead of us." She jetpacked straight up, holding him tightly, and brought him close to her face, preparing to drain his body dry. "If you taste this good," she purred, licking a drop of blood off of his forehead, "I wonder how your girlfriend wo-"

Robert brought his fists together as hard as he could on either side of Morrigan's head.

Something gave.

Morrigan's eyes abruptly lost their focus. Her jetpack stopped firing, and both of them dropped to the floor. Robert landed first, standing, and launched Morrigan back into the air with a Ryuga.

As Robert looked to see where Morrigan would land, he saw Dan, on his feet and his face covered in blood, standing close by. Dan motioned with his hand; Robert nodded as Dan crept into position.

In midair, Morrigan's jetpack cut back in, and she righted herself so she'd land upright. That turned out to be a mistake. Robert plowed right into her before she'd touched the ground. She stabbed at him with her hands, carving deep wounds into his skin, but Robert was far beyond caring.

"You..." Robert's hands found her left arm, swinging out in a hammer punch, and snapped it. "...do..." As Morrigan tried to heal the broken bone, Robert's GeneiKyaku found its mark, snapping a foot into her chin and cracking her neck for a second time. "...not..." As Robert landed, he slammed a Kick Dance into her, a thousand kicks or more lashing into her chest and stomach. "...touch..." A roundhouse wheel kick crushed Morrigan's sternum. "...**YURI**! HAOHSHOKOHKEN!" The Supreme Roar sent Morrigan tumbling backwards in flames.

Robert moved after her to finish the job, but she popped right back up, her bones fully healed, and drove her spiked heel into his chest, digging it in. Morrigan levitated upwards, snap-kicking him twice in the jaw before Soul Fisting him off of her heel. Robert collapsed, only barely managing to get vertical in time to see her come forward.

"This is over, boy..." she hissed.

"Damned right it is..." Robert's form blurred as he jumped straight at Morrigan, his foot extended, hell to pay. Morrigan raised her arms to ward him off-

-and someone tapped her on her shoulder. "Oh, Morri..." Dan drew his fist back, his arm trailing blue shadows.

"RYUUKO RANBU!"

"HISSHOU BURAIKEN!"

Caught between both Dan and Robert, Morrigan blocked neither. On either side of her, both men threw a dizzying array of attacks, fists and feet flying rapidly, using every bit of skill, rage, and adrenaline they possessed.

They finally spun upward and delivered a final rising uppercut, slamming into both sides of Morrigan's jaw, juggling Morrigan into the air between them.

It almost seemed like a sunburst bloomed behind Dan, shadows dancing throughout the room.

Morrigan Arnsland fell, utterly defeated.

* * *

**Rooftop, RumbleDome Hotel**

Ryo caught himself before he fell off the edge of the roof, literally digging his fingers into the concrete to break his momentum. As Demitri flew towards him, Ryo grabbed double handfuls of the roof and flung them into the vampire's face, blinding him for a crucial moment. Ryo capitalized with a Ranbuken, delivering four punches so quickly that the fourth had landed before Demitri noticed the first.

The vampire wiped his eyes as he stumbled, tears of blood coursing down his cheeks, and Ryo kicked him in the face while he had the chance, chaining into a HienShippuKyaku, knocking Demitri prone.

The vampire kicked himself up and grabbed Ryo around the waist-once again, Ryo underestimated Demitri's speed-carrying both of them across the roof and into what remained of the cornerstone. It broke, predictably, and Ryo felt the distance keenly behind him as he was thrust out over the edge. For a moment, they both hovered above the edge, above the portal.

Demitri pulled himself up, levitating slightly, and let go of Ryo. Ryo scrambled madly, feeling gravity kick in, and managed to latch onto the corner of the roof with one hand. He began to pull himself up, and felt Demitri's heel grind into his fingers.

Demitri grinned. "So, Sakazaki. I wonder if your newfound powers will help you as you plummet down into Hell?"

Ryo grimaced as he desperately scrabbled for a better grip, hanging onto the parapet precariously. "Do you _have_ to gloat?"

Demitri shook his head. "No. As a matter of fact I'm just going to finish you off. Then I'll leave this dimension before the Dark Guy can get his hands on me." He placed one foot over Ryo's hand and ground down. Hard.

Ryo groaned in pain as his handhold fell apart, and he swung away slightly, with only one hand keeping him from falling to his near-certain death.

Demitri looked down at him. "Goodbye, Sakazaki."

Ryo waited for the vampire's foot to eradicate his remaining handhold.

"HAOHSHOKOHKEN!"

Demitri turned around quickly, just in time to be hit head on by the wall of flame. It didn't hurt Demitri in the least, but the impact drove him slightly back to the point where he was precariously balanced right at the edge of the roof.

Takuma lowered his hands. "Leave my son alone, you bastard."

Ryo saw his chance, and flipped up, using his free hand as leverage, planting both feet in Demitri's back. The vampire pitched forward as Ryo hit the roof. "DAD! GET OUT OF HERE!"

Takuma shook his head. "Not without you!"

"How touching." Demitri slammed Ryo with a kick from the ground, directly into his sternum. "How futile." As he took to his feet, Demitri spun around and threw a Vampire Rage, striking Takuma as he ran towards the vampire. Takuma went down in flames.

"DAD!" Ryo screamed.

"If you'd like to join him, Sakazaki," Demitri snarled, "I can help you with-"

Ryo's fist slammed into his face. Demitri's head moved slightly, rolling with the impact, but in that time, Ryo's knee found his stomach. Grabbing Demitri, Ryo flipped the vampire over his head and slammed him into the roof; as the vampire bounced up, Ryo juggled him with a point-blank HaohShoKohKen. The blast didn't cause Demitri any harm, but it did knock him towards the edge.

Demitri flipped over in midair, onto his feet. "I'm impressed-"

"SHUT UP!" Ryo flew at Demitri in the middle of the speech, wildly slamming his fists into Demitri's head and chest. Demitri moved slightly with each attack, smiling at him.

Ryo stopped attacking Demitri, his knuckles bleeding, and stared at him.

"It's been amusing, Sakazaki." Demitri drew his fist back. "But not anymore-"

Ryo took a step forward, and as Demitri's arm went all the way back, threw a Koho, focusing everything he could into his fist, his aura coalescing into a globe of radiance at the end of his arm. The searchlight faded into irrelevance.

To Demitri, the light seared his eyes. He screamed as it came closer, annihilating his vision, and struck him in the chin. His preternatural resistance wasn't enough to save him from its full impact, and he rose up in the air, pain reaching him like a distant dream as he fell...

...and fell.

Demitri disappeared over the edge of the building.

Ryo slumped to his knees. Suddenly, the word "exhaustion" defined him. His glow faded somewhat as his hand lost its light, and he felt the tingling start to leave him. He wasn't sure whether he was glad to lose it or not.

"Son?" Takuma, a fresh burn on his chest, walked forward. "What's... what's wrong with you? Why are you glowing?"

"It's a long story, dad..." Ryo got to his feet. "Are you...?"

"I've had worse. Of course, I was a lot younger then." Takuma winced, walking towards him. "Why were you fighting Demitri? I thought it was Shao Kahn..."

"I'll explain it all later," Ryo said. "Let's get out of-"

The roof exploded underneath his feet.

Ryo pitched backward, his balance gone, Takuma screaming his name, and caught a glimpse of Demitri, in freefall, smirking, his hands and aura smoking.

"Did you forget I can fly, Sakazaki?" Demitri screamed, laughing, beginning to shapeshift back to his bat form. "Goodbye!"

Ryo yelled something unintelligible and reached out for him. Demitri's laugh cut off sharply as Ryo's hand clapped onto his ankle; unable to pull his leg free, the shapeshift went unfinished. Demitri reached down to dislodge Ryo and received a Kohken in the face instead.

Both of them began to fall, inexorably, towards the portal.

* * *

**The Ring**

Bishamon swung his sword, and nearly cut Guy right out of his Bushin Leap. In midair, Guy changed his plan and dropped to the ground with his weight behind his elbow, the sword sweeping behind him as he fell, crashing into Bishamon's chest. The armor took a lot of the impact, but it still drove Bishamon back.

They were both running out of tricks. The fight had reached the point where both fighters, knowing exactly what the other was capable of, were merely carrying out a dance. Guy led for now, his speed carrying him through and around Bishamon's swordplay. Both were on the other side of exhaustion, where it was so great that neither noticed it anymore.

Guy flung himself through the air, kicking at Bishamon's head, hitting only air as Bishamon ducked. A flame flew once more, and was blocked, Guy dropping the block almost instantly and lashing out with a Rising Spin Kick. Bishamon took the first hit and was sucked into the second, hitting the mat. As he rose, he lashed out, his blade biting deeply into Guy's arms. Guy cried out even as he ran at Bishamon, abandoning all pretense of caution.

Bishamon slashed downward, cutting Guy's chest deeply, but not able to make the killing blow he'd intended. Guy cried out again, hitting Bishamon in the face with his knee, jumping up and adding two more hits by flipping over into a kneedrop. Bishamon grunted, the equipment adding their own commentary, and slashed Guy away from him.

"This is getting intense!" Wanderer practically yelled into the mike. "How much longer can they keep this up?"

"Not too much longer, I hope," Birdman muttered.

Wanderer looked at him. "Am I being exuberant?"

"Yes, newbie, you are."

"I'll have to watch that."

"Thank you."

Both of the combatants stood still for a moment, trying to figure the extent of their injuries.

Guy was, once again, the first to move, Bushin Running across the space between them as fast as he could. Bishamon met him with a tentative jab that made contact for a second, and swept the blade across and around, where it was blocked. As Bishamon brought the sword back into position, Guy backfisted him to the mat.

As Bishamon got up, he raised the sword in a sort of salute. "I have to give you credit for lasting this long!"

Guy nodded at him and waved one hand. "No big deal." His attention was elsewhere.

Bishamon rushed in at Guy, and feinted a stab to Guy's throat. As Guy dodged it, Bishamon let go of the sword, and it rushed forward-

-right past the slightly airborne Guy.

"Gotcha," Guy murmured. Bishamon swallowed, waiting for the sword to come back to him. He didn't have that kind of time. Guy crashed into his chestplate with a crushing kick, followed it in with an overhand punch, and knocked Bishamon away with a final Bushin Roundhouse. The samurai skidded across the ring and hit the "ropes", frying for a moment before he could wrench himself free.

As he did, Guy was on him again, trailing blue shadows in a second, equally vicious, Bushin Rage. The first kick connected squarely with Bishamon's armor, crushing it inward. The followup kicks abused him viciously-

-but the sword came back right then.

Bishamon, frantically, grabbed at the sword, but not in time to block the rest of the Rage. He went sprawling, and came up in front of Guy with a string of six hits that had to be seen to be appreciated. For what seemed the thousandth time, Guy went down, slashed to ribbons, and fell to the mat's already bloodstained surface.

Bishamon crouched down to pick Guy up.

As he did so, though, Guy's head jerked up, dripping with sweat and blood, and slapped Bishamon's hand away.

With a Bushin Leap.

As Bishamon saw Guy glow, he tried to back up, to get out of the Leap's way, but he hadn't time to move before it struck.

Guy attacked him frantically, every shot he landed tearing his wounds open that much further. It was his last hurrah. With the final hit, Guy fell, and simply collapsed.

Bishamon, falling backwards, flailed out. He saw the mat beneath him, and reached out for it frantically.

His hand closed on sparking electricity, and convulsively, his hand opened again.

Bishamon continued to fall... and passed through the dimensional field.

"Is he gone? IS HE GONE?" John asked Brant, shaking him by his shirt collar.

"Iiii caaann't chheeeccckkk uuunnnllleeesss yyyoouuu sssttoopp...shaking me. Thank you." Brant turned to the DimensionCam, and tuned it in.

The Cam tuned into a war zone. Everywhere, small houses were broken and crushed, like something heavy had fallen onto them. Small blue men ran back and forth, attempting to rebuild.

In the middle of the village, Bishamon sat, his eyes unfocused. In front of him, on a hastily constructed podium that reached up to Bishamon's chin, a blue man in red pants and hat paced back and forth.

"All right. I've had it up to here. No more Mister Nice Smurf." Papa Smurf confronted the dazed samurai. "Next year, we're going to this 'Rumble', and we're giving them a piece of our minds-"

"Don't... worry," Bishamon said, getting up. His equipment was blessedly silent. "I was the last one. The Video Rumble is over."

Guy, back in the ring, staggered to his feet. Glancing around, he noticed the scoreboard was out. The fans simply watched him; some of them ran around the ring looking at the field, trying to find out if Bishamon was really gone.

The audience, tentatively at first, but then building up, rose to their feet to cheer.

Then, annoyingly, someone looked at the viewscreen showing the rooftop fight. Whoever it was then proceeded to scream "Look!"

Birdman looked at Scott. "Find whoever did that and throw them in the brig for a while."

Quietly, every eye turned towards the final moments of the fight between Ryo and Demitri. As Ryo delivered his final attack, the tension in the 'Dome was thicker than the air.

As Demitri fell, cheering rose, and Guy's shoulders slumped in relief. The cheering cut off sharply a moment later when Demitri flung a Vampire Rage at the side of the building. Concrete powdered and collapsed underneath it, undercutting a large chunk of the roof's edge. As the audience gasped, both men started to fall towards the pavement.

"What in the name of all that's holy...?" Wanderer muttered.

Birdman didn't answer; his head was buried in his hands. He seemed to almost be crying.

Brant leaned forward, all business. "That's just what we needed; more structural damage. They should survive it... they can both just air-projectile just before they hit."

"That would be nice, wouldn't it," John muttered. His eyes were on another screen. "Taken a look at the front of the Hotel lately?"

"No..." Brant turned to another of the blank monitors and kicked it in, focusing onto the front of the hotel.

* * *

**RumbleDome Hotel, Front Walkway**

"Osu, demon."

WHO ARE YOU WHO SPEAKS TO THE DARK GUY SO?

Doom answered. "She is Rose. I am Victor Von Doom. You are not welcome here."

HOW DARE YOU SPEAK TO ME IN SUCH CAVALIER FASHION?

"Quite easily." Jago's borrowed body took a fighting stance.

Rose, her shawl looped around her shoulders, wrapped it around her hands and began to faintly glow. "As he said. You are not native to this dimension. You have no claim upon it. We abjure you."

GOOD LUCK, FOOLISH ONES. I AM THE DARK GUY. LEGIONS OF DEMONS CHURN BENEATH YOUR FEET, MORTALS. MY POWER IS THAT OF THE DARKNESS WITHIN THE HUMAN SOUL.  
I AM THE LORD OF HELL-

"You are the lord of **a** hell," Doom sneered, "and it is a smaller one than you will ever deign to realize."

"We cast you out," Rose added. "We give you leave to claim what is yours, and then you will leave." Her glow was now bright enough to read by. "We give you no rights within this world. You are not on your own plane, and you are therefore not the main power within it."

YOU'RE BLUFFING.

"We do not bluff," Doom said, speaking with aristocratic delivery. "Bluffing is for those who have no power."

DON'T MAKE ME LAUGH-

Rose's glow continued to intensify. "I have no intention of doing so." Her radiance began to overcome the reddish tinge of the Dark Guy's portal, casting everything anew in a luminescent glow.

Against all odds, the portal began to close.

WHAT IN ALL THE NAMES...

"We do not bluff, minor demon." Doom did nothing save stand, but he gave the impression of coiled strength. "We have told you that. It was your decision not to listen."

Rose said nothing, sweat running down her face as she concentrated upon the abjuration. The portal continued to shut, concrete and pavement running back together as though welded.

WHAT MAKES YOU THINK YOU CAN STAND AGAINST THE POWER OF THE DARK GUY? With a wave of his hand, the pavement stood firm against Rose's power, and began to pull itself back apart.

"It is very simple," Doom replied as Rose's power flared anew. "We know what you have been doing and have done to this node. Very impressive, but it requires a great deal of power. You are also empowering both Mizuki and Demitri, keeping this portal open between your hell and this node, and attempting to maintain that ridiculous guise. Even for a deity, that is not inconsiderable; and the moment you entered this reality, you became weakened by your distance from your home. This is not your Japan, and this is not your node."

Rose flared white, and the hole began to wrench itself closed once more.

"Do you understand, lord of demons?" Doom's every word sounded like a coiled threat. "She is charged with dispelling such as you, and I have always stood against the forces of Hell. You will leave this dimension, or you will **leave** this **dimension**."

The Dark Guy, still wearing his business suit, began to look somewhat peturbed before his face reverted to the same lawyer's smile. IT WOULD APPEAR THAT YOU HAVE NOT BLUFFED AFTER ALL, the Dark Guy said mildly. VERY WELL; I SHALL LEAVE ONCE MY BUSINESS IS CONCLUDED HERE. BUT DO NOT THINK THAT YOU HAVE SEEN THE LAST OF ME.

"I would not dream of it," Doom said. "But know that if I see you again, you will face the full might of Victor Von Doom."

I LOOK FORWARD TO IT. The Dark Guy descended back into his portal, still smiling. CONSIDER YOURSELF WARNED, VON DOOM.

"Consider yourself promised." As the portal vanished from concrete reality, Rose stopped glowing and slumped to the ground. Doom was at her side to catch her. "You were magnificent."

Rose blinked at him through unfocused eyes. "I think... I'm going to... take a very long vacation..."

"You have earned it, madame." Doom looked up as he set her down on the pavement.

Looking up, Doom saw the fall of Ryo and Demitri.

* * *

**Falling, Rumbledome Hotel**

"Do you mean to kill us both, then?" Ryo snarled, trying to tear himself free of Demitri's hands.

"Hardly! We won't die, Sakazaki; we'll just be in eternal torment! There is a remote difference!" Demitri did not struggle or move; he merely held onto Ryo with arms like iron. His face was discomfortingly serene.

"Thank you. That sounds much better." Ryo kicked out at Demitri, his foot hitting the vampire in the stomach with enough force to dent steel, without making much of a difference. Swallowing hard, Ryo glanced down and saw the portal below them, and tried even more frantically to get free. Demitri's levitation abilities were slowing their fall just enough that he had a chance to think about escape, but the aforementioned iron-like grip was making it impossible.

"It was no trouble." Demitri's mouth opened, and his fangs lashed out at Ryo's neck; Ryo was barely able to lean back out of the way. "I hope we get matching accomodations in Hell, Sakazaki."

Ryo said nothing, concentrating on trying to break Demitri's grip. While Ryo's grip on Demitri kept the vampire from shapeshifting to bat form, Demitri's hold on Ryo was enough to prevent Ryo from throwing air Kohkens to break his momentum. The hotel, next to them, blurred by like shuffling cards. Nothing seemed to work... Ryo looked down, into the closing mouth of Hell, and swallowed hard. This was going to be very bad...

Suddenly, next to them, the hotel reversed its downward slide. As both of them looked up in surprise, it actually began to slightly climb back up.

Demitri snarled at Ryo, "A new talent? Very nice, but it won't save you."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Ryo kicked Demitri in the stomach, again with no effect.

"It was not him."

The new voice came from behind them. As Demitri whipped them both around so he could see who it was, he missed the arrival of Storm.

Storm grabbed the back of Ryo's gi, attempting to blast Demitri away with lightning, but doing nothing more save making the vampire's hair stand momentarily on end. The winds she stirred up held all three of them in the air, against the momentum, Demitri screaming at her. As he raised an arm to hit her with a Vampire Rage, he was forced to take one hand off of Ryo.

The Rage flew, striking Storm in the chest, and the winds faltered for a moment. All three began to fall once more as Demitri laughed maniacally.

As they did so, though, Demitri realized what he'd done. He reached out to grab at Ryo's free arm again...

...and his hand closed on air.

"DEMITRI..." Ryo screamed, "...GET **OFF** OF ME!" With his free hand, he slammed a fireball directly into Demitri's eyes. There was an explosion like the wrath of God as all the force of his enchantment was released into that final burst, shaking windows the length of the hotel. Echoes thundered throughout the 'Dome.

The vampire, his eyes seared by the radiance and flame, his other arm letting go of Ryo as he clutched at his eyes despite himself, fell backward from them. As he did so, Ryo grabbed onto Storm, and the mutant managed to raise her winds again through the pain of her burns. Both of them slowed down as Demitri picked up speed.

"How'd you know to come get me?" Ryo yelled at Storm over the winds.

"The video board," Storm yelled back, pointing. "You have been drawing quite an audience."

Ryo saw the screen and groaned, just before Storm suddenly performed a quick airborne tuck-and-roll with him in tow. He felt his stomach churn as a Vampire Rage streaked by them into the night.

Demitri threw another one from mid-air, laughing and beginning his shapeshift to bat form. "I'LL BE SEEING YOU, SAKAZAKI!"

"CHUFFLE!"

Demitri looked to his left.

Sasquatch, standing in a hole in the side of the hotel, the hole the falling Cyrax had made twenty minutes earlier, gave the vampire a jaunty wave just before hitting Demitri with an Ice Laser. A thick coat of ice encased Demitri as arctic cold washed over him.

The final look on his face was frozen there. It would stay with Ryo throughout his life as he watched Demitri plummet down towards the portal; it was a look of absolute resignation and rage intermixed.

As he reached the mouth of Hell, the ice melted away like smoke, and his final wordless scream of rage and pain was audible to all within the 'Dome. Ryo reached out for him, silently, knowing it was absolutely worthless, but not willing to let anyone suffer like that. Storm turned her head, unable to watch.

HELLO, DEMITRI, the voice of the Dark Guy resounded. LET'S GO SOMEPLACE MORE PRIVATE... AND TALK.

The portal shut with the sound of crushing bone.

* * *

**The Ring**

Guy spread his arms inquisitively and looked towards the announcers' booth.

Gravely, Wanderer gave him a thumbs-up.

Guy smiled slightly, and turned back to the audience. Straightening, he folded his arms. Giving the Multiverse a two-fingered salute, he proclaimed, "Korezo... Bushinryu!"

The Multiverse looked back in awe.

* * *

_Original Authors_

Chris "Birdman" Bird  
Thomas "Wanderer" Wilde


	31. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

**Wreckage, Room 1891, RumbleDome Hotel (an hour later)**

"Please move along," Scott said pleasantly. A ragged crowd of fighters, under the watchful eyes of Nunzio and a few dozen rifle-toting penguins, were marched down to the brig. All around him, Rumble medical personnel bundled up others to be taken to the infirmary. Other fighters, leaning on each other, patched themselves up and carried themselves down.

"Nice mess," Wanderer murmured, watching four paramedics struggle with Kintaro's unconscious body. Demitri's apartment and those adjacent to it had become blasted ruins, scorched to their framework by the Source. The upper ten floors and the roof of the Hotel were a complete loss; what had not been burned, gouged, shattered, or crushed had been damaged beyond repair by the sprinkler system. The smell of burning carpet still lingered faintly in the air. "How were you going to pay for repairs?" he asked Birdman, who was seated roughly on the husk of a couch a few yards away.

"No idea, man," Birdman murmured quietly. He had reached the limits of even

his capacity to freak some time ago, and now stared at the wreckage with disturbing calm. Sitting next to him on the couch, a rabbity-looking girl named Bunny - she had introduced herself to Wanderer as one of the security personnel - there-thered in his ear. "None."

A short distance away, Ryo watched as a barely conscious Takuma was lifted onto a stretcher. "He's going to be okay, right?" he asked one of the paramedics.

"Your father's in excellent shape for what he's been through," the paramedic assured him. "He should pull through just fine. Let's go, Mac!" Takuma was carried out of the room.

Storm put a hand on his shoulder. "I am sure he will be fine."

"I hope so." Ryo looked around him for, really, the first time. The enormity of what had just happened to both him and Demitri, and what had nearly happened to them all, had yet to hit him. He comprehended it on an intellectual level, but it still seemed somewhat distant, as if it was a movie he'd seen. "We kinda wrecked the place, didn't we?"

Storm chuckled. "My friend, you should see some of the scenes we have left in our wake. It doesn't matter _where_ the X-Men go, it seems, you can always tell where they've been."

Birdman, hearing this, looked tiredly up at the two of them. "Nice to hear _you_ still have your sense of humor. The next time you have to save the multiverse from an evil demigod, do it in someone else's hotel..."

Ryo and Storm found this uproariously funny. Birdman, notably, did not.

**Later that night**

The Rumble was over, and so was Demitri's plot.

Every mage worth the name had gone over the fabric of the Rumble's node with a (metaphorically speaking) fine-toothed comb. The Dark Guy had apparently taken Rose's ultimatum seriously, for no trace of him or his magics, once Mizuki was extradited, could be found anywhere within the Dome. The only sign of his appearance was, now, a indented circular scar in the pavement in front of the hotel, gaping like an empty eye socket.

Most of Demitri's willing allies and troops were exported from the Rumble node as soon as they were found; unfortunately, sterner measures could not be taken against them, due to the well-known "no permanent changes in a node" rule. For the most part, the Rumble staff had to settle for being able to kick them through the portals back to their homes. Notably, among those Rumble security could not find, once the dust settled, were Morrigan Aensland and Iori Yagami.

Those fighters who had been instrumental in stopping Demitri, as well as those who were enslaved by one vampire or another, were allowed to stay, albeit grudgingly, since most of them were in serious need of medical attention. The infirmary prepared itself for a long, busy night.

Carrying a severely wounded Kim Dragon, Ukyo Tachibana protested as medics attempted to put him in a wheelchair. "...no, no, **he's**...hurt...kaff kaff...not me..."

"He's always like this," Nakoruru added, helping Galford in. "There's not much you can do, really."

"Come on, you dumb macho brute," Yuri Sakazaki groaned, leaning on Robert Garcia for support as she limped past Ukyo. She was covered in burn cream and bandages. "Am I gonna have to carry you in?"

"No way, babe," Robert retorted weakly, pale from blood loss. "Matter of fact, it looks like you're the one who's slowing us down."

Terry Bogard, who was helping them both, rolled his eyes. "You two sure you're okay?"

"We'll be fine, Terry," Yuri said as she was put into a hospital bed. "Go look after Andy and Mary." Robert looked guilty for a second before managing to turn his face away from Terry's.

"What happened to Mary?" a new voice asked from the bed next to Yuri's.

Yuri turned around, and her face lit up. "Donovan! You're alive!"

"Barely," Donovan grunted. He was covered in what appeared to be seven or eight different kinds of body cast, looking, at the moment, more like Anakaris

than Anakaris. Kilshred was leaning up against the wall next to the bed. "I let go of Cyrax about halfway down, and the concussion blew me through a window."

"I'm glad to hear it. I'd hug you, but..." Yuri gestured vaguely at her burns.

"I know." Donovan shrugged, the movement reminding him just how badly he was hurt, and grimaced in pain. "I'll settle for the emotion, thanks."

Terry made his way across the almost-full room, looking for his brother. He looked up, and found himself standing in front of a small crowd of X-Men. Adjusting his cap, he grimaced; he'd known this would have to happen sooner or later.

Walking meekly up to them, enduring glares from Wolverine and Psylocke, he looked down at Cyclops' hospital bed. The X-Man already had his jaw wired shut-the Rumble's medics knew their job-and was holding the hand of a red-haired woman who knelt next to him. His visor had been replaced by a pair of reddish-colored wraparound sunglasses.

"Um..." Terry said to Cyclops, feeling like a moron. He studied the floor intently, not wanting to meet either his or the woman's eyes. "Listen, I know I messed you up pretty badly, and I wanted to say I'm sorry. Sometimes, when I get angry, I'm not really in control of myself."

Cyclops tried to say something back, couldn't, and looked at the redhead imploringly.

"Help the guy out, Jeannie," Wolverine grumbled. His hands flexed idly as he looked at Terry's back.

She looked up at Terry. "He says it's not your fault; if someone had been trying to kill him, he'd have acted the same way."

Terry looked back at her, then at Cyclops. He was mystified.

"Trust me," she said dryly.

Meanwhile, across the room, Rasputin applied a thick herbal paste to a bedridden Clark's neck. "Breathe in," he said, and made a sound of approval as Clark did so. "Good. The wounds are healing nicely; it would seem that the vampire's bite is almost completely out of your system. Time will take care of the rest."

"What the hell happened to me, anyway? I remember buying a beer, and then waking up in this hospital bed with a concussion." Clark rubbed the back of his head.

"You, and many other fighters, were bitten by either Morrigan Aensland or Demitri Maximov and were thus enslaved to their will," Rasputin said gently. "As best we can determine, you and a few others were sent to try and defeat some of Demitri's enemies, and were unsuccessful." He put a hand on Clark's forehead. "There should be no lasting effects, however. You should rest now."

"Go take care of someone else, doc. I'll be fine. And thanks."

"Not a problem," Rasputin replied, shaking Clark's offered hand. He walked over to Ralf's bed.

Behind him, Clark clenched a fist. "Demitri and Morrigan, hm?" he muttered to himself. "I'll have to have a few words with them next year..."

Rasputin spent most of that evening on his feet, cleansing Morrigan and Demitri's bites from the fighters they had enslaved. In his wake, Rasputin left fighters smelling faintly of herbal ointment and vowing revenge against Morrigan Aensland and Demitri Maximov. Ralf, Blue Mary, Heihachi, Pai, Joe Higashi, Jubei Yagyu, Psylocke...the faces blurred in his mind. Clark's was among the mildest of those reactions, and it seemed that his patients got angrier the later he worked.

Eventually, he had to lie down; he had worked himself to exhaustion for the second time that day. As he drifted off to sleep, he thought of Demitri and Morrigan, and involuntarily shuddered. He did not want to be either of them, right now, or ever.

The most heavily attended hospital bed in the room, however, belonged to the reigning Rumble champion. Guy was barely conscious; he was on enough painkillers that he would not have noticed should he have been run over by a truck. Ryu and Ken were standing on either side of his bed talking to him in low voices, with Rose and Chun Li close by. Charlie and Dan had the beds to either side of him.

"...but man, my favorite part was when you took out that bloodsucker!" Ken said excitedly, punching the air to accentuate his point. "I didn't think anyone was gonna stop him until I hit the ring, but you did it almost as well as I would've!"

"You damn him, I think," Ryu said, "with faint praise."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"CLEAR THE WAY!"

The Street Fighters looked up to see a camera crew moving in on Guy's bed. Several MVTN reporters, among them Austin Loomis (Putrid had entered the room with them, but had encountered adversity in the form of a righteously pissed contingent of Virtua Fighters about halfway through the door), eagerly extended microphones at Guy, who simply looked at them and said nothing. Questions flew.

Ken stepped in front of them. "Guys, he can't talk to you right now; he's kinda zoned. Could you give him a little space?"

"Good idea," Birdman agreed, pushing his way through the cameras. "Back up, people!" They did so, mostly because of the glare they got from the armed cyberpenguin Birdman had with him.

"Could I have everyone's attention, please?" Birdman called. The infirmary quieted down in response, as those who could turn their heads towards them did so. "Since most of the fighters are in the medical facilities anyway, we thought we'd handle the awards here." He gestured towards the door.

Ryo and Storm, walking in, quickly dodged to the side as four men wearing UVR logos carted in an enormous trophy, one that was, once again, almost as big as Kintaro. Accompanied by the glare of flashbulbs and applause from throughout the room, they set it in front of Guy.

"How are we going to fit that in the dojo, Ryu?" Ken said, his eyes wide.

Ryu blinked. "I have no idea. I don't think our ceiling is that high."

"It is my pleasure, as master of ceremonies, to award Guy, from Street Fighter, the title of Champion of the Second Annual Video Rumble!" Birdman announced. The reporters pressed forward again, to hear what the champ had to say.

Guy, weakly, leaned forward to inspect the trophy. It was somewhat of a shock to him to actually *see* the thing, being awarded to him, and to see his name on the-

"'BishaGuy'?" he murmured, looking up at Birdman. "'Champion, UVR2 - BishaGuy'?"

Birdman tugged at his collar and smiled sickly. A warm ripple of laughter rolled through the room. "Well... we thought you'd lost, and then you climbed back into the ring..."

Guy shrugged as well as his bandages would allow. "It's not a big deal. I'm honored to have won against all of you." Looking across the room, he said directly into the cameras, "Bishamon, you fought well, and this trophy is as much yours as it is mine. Congratulations."

**Room 1027, RumbleDome Hotel**

"It's good to see _someone_ appreciates us," the sword said.

"Pass the popcorn, Bish," the armor said, chewing.

Absently, Bishamon threw another handful of corn into his armor's mouth. He was busy studying the statue that had been delivered to his hotel suite a few minutes ago.

It was a foot high, and depicted him in his full armor, sword held above his head. The inscription read, "To Bishamon - Maybe Next Year. Runner-Up, UVR2."

With a sigh, he put it into his small traveling bag, next to the statue he had received the previous year.

The two statues were almost exactly identical.

**Infirmary, RumbleDome Hotel**

"On your screens, you should be receiving a computer graphic," Birdman said, "supplied by our own Akarui Hitori, listing the eliminations count received by each fighter."

On the monitors in the hotel rooms, and on the Maxatron video board above the ring, the following rolled across the screen:

17: GUY (Cyclops, Takuma Sakazaki, Athena Asamiya, Silver Samurai, Galford, Donovan Bane, Wulf, Yuri Sakazaki, Kim Dragon, Demitri Maximov, Sie Kensou, Hsien-Ko, Shun Di, Kyoshiro, Kuroko, Chun Li, Bishamon)

13: HAOHMARU (Akira Yuki, Ryo Sakazaki, Akuma, Colossus, Wolf Hawkfield, T.J. Combo, Saishu Kusanagi, Hanzo Hattori, Brocken, Baek, Heidern, Lau Chan, Sheeva)

9: ROSE (Lion Rafale, Chang Koehan, Adon, Anakaris, Mudman, Heavy D!, Benimaru Nikkaido, Jubei Yagyu, Matrix)

8: ATHENA ASAMIYA (Sonya Blade, Stryker, Erick, Orion, Dan Hibiki, Goro Daimon, Omega Red, Sentinel)  
GALFORD (Spiral, Psylocke, Sodom, Shaun Michaels, Pyron, Leif, Caffeine Nicotine, Rasputin)

6: MAI SHIRANUI (Lei Wulong, Johnny Maximum, Billy Kane, Neinhalt Seiger, Sabrewulf, Yoshimitsu)

5: WAN-FU (Eyedol, Thugg, Fulgore, Riptor, Kagemaru)  
SILVER SAMURAI (Morrigan Aensland, Michelle Chan, Sektor, Shao Kahn, Omega Rugal)  
KIM KAPHWAN (Ryofu, Iori Yagami, Spinal, M. Bison, Jeffry McWild)  
UKYO TACHIBANA (Rose, Jago, Hanzou, Pai Chan, Terry Bogard)  
BISHAMON (Iceman, Rancid, Birdie, Captain Kidd, King)

4: WOLF HAWKFIELD (Kyo Kusanagi, Eiji Kisaragi, Kabal, Kano)  
KING (Chin Gentsai, Kintaro, J. Carn, Dhalsim)  
CHUN LI (Orchid, Huitzil, Jack, Jacky Bryant)

3: CHARLOTTE (Andy Bogard, Muscle Power, Janne)  
HEAVY D! (Fuuma, Sawada, Earthquake)  
JON TALBAIN (Wan-Fu, Cham Cham, Smoke)  
YURI SAKAZAKI (Chief Thunder, Jon Talbain, Ryoko)  
RYU (Shura, Juggernaut, Storm)  
MAGNETO (Haohmaru, Genjuro, Victor von Gerdenheim)  
KEN MASTERS (Ryu, Cyrax, Jax)  
TERRY BOGARD (Ranma Saotome, Ken Masters, Felicia)

2: DAN HIBIKI (Glacius, Joe Higashi)  
LION RAFALE (Charlotte, Rikuo)  
LAU CHAN (Mai Shiranui, Mantazz)  
DEMITRI MAXIMOV (Charlie, Cinder)  
JEFFRY MCWILD (Robert Garcia, Death)  
RANMA SAOTOME (Sagat, Gen-An Shiranui)  
FELICIA (Shang Tsung, Wolverine)  
NAKORURU (Kung Lao, Kim Kaphwan)

1: SODOM (Ralf)  
KYO KUSANAGI (Sindel)  
RYO SAKAZAKI (Lord Raptor)  
AKIRA YUKI (Sasquatch)  
JANNE (Musashi)  
MORRIGAN ARNSLAND (Zeus)  
COLOSSUS (Neo-Dio)  
HANZO HATTORI (Duraal)  
GENJURO (Clark)  
BAD MR. FROSTY (Nightwolf)  
CHARLIE (Liu Kang)  
STORM (Sarah Bryant)  
SAGAT (Bad Mr. Frosty)  
ROBERT GARCIA (Marshall Law)  
KIM DRAGON (Sub-Zero)  
JAGO (Mizuki)  
SIE KENSOU (Magneto)  
KINTARO (Motaro)  
RANCID (Gokuu)  
KUROKO (Choi Bounge)  
DHALSIM (Larcen)  
JACKY BRYANT (Nakoruru)  
CAPTAIN KIDD (Ukyo Tachibana)

Birdman waited patiently for the graphic to finish rolling. As he did so, Wanderer quietly pushed through the cameramen, and handed him a large sack.

"Now," Birdman said, as the graphic finished rolling, "it's time for my favorite part of the UVR, the 'Official Unofficial Awards'!" A cheer came up from the crowd in the auditorium. Reaching into the sack, he handed out a _large_ number of small statues to the assembled fighters.

MAYBE NEXT YEAR: Mortal Kombat 3, the only node to scrupulously avoid getting _any eliminations whatsoever_. (World Heroes Perfect got three; Time Killers and Killer Instinct both got one.)

COMEBACK KINGS: the Virtua Fighters. Last year, Wolf and Lau both managed one elimination; this year, Akira, Wolf, Lau, Lion, Jacky, and Jeffry all had good showings. (Still no luck for Kage, though; what is it with that guy?)

THE BITCHES ARE BACK: Team England, for being the only KOF team where all members got eliminations (and fielding one of the semi-finalists).

"I'm not sure how I feel about this," King muttered, eying her little statue.

"An award is an award, King," Mai muttered. "Just keep smiling."

ROLE MODEL FOR THE HANDICAPPED II: Galford, for eliminating three fighters while one-armed.

MOST IMPROVED: Athena Asamiya; from instant elimination to fourth place overall.

"UPGRADE", HM?: Morrigan Arnsland; from eleven eliminations to ...one. What the hell?

WHAT THE F***?: Rancid. Beating the odds two years in a row as the only Time Killer to garner an elimination.

FLASH IN THE PAN: Lion Rafale, from first place in one Section to near-instant elimination in the next.

GIANT KILLER: Sie Kensou, for eliminating Magneto.

KING OF FIGHTERS: Kim Kaphwan, with five eliminations.

QUEEN OF FIGHTERS: Athena Asamiya, with eight eliminations.

WHOOPS, BAD IDEA: Terry Bogard, for eliminating Ranma Saotome. Four "die" votes cast solely because of that turned the trick, and kept Terry out of the semis.

WHO'S THE BOSS: Magneto. With three eliminations, he is the only "boss" character to achieve any kind of success.

KILLER OF KILLERS: Wan-Fu. He knocked three Killer Instinctives and one Time Killer out of the ring.

STUPORHEROES: In general, the villains of the X-Men: Children of the Atom node did far better than the heroes did.

'BOUT TIME, KIDS: the World Heroes finally stopped looking sick, with three eliminations to their credit. Of course, they threw more people _into_ the ring than almost anyone else, but...

SHOTOCLONES CAN... STICK AROUND: Haohmaru, Ryo, Robert, Dan, and Akira all had decent showings this time around. Hanzou and Fuuma, though...the less said, the better.

HISTORY REPEATS ITSELF: Wolf Hawkfield and Akuma, for being eliminated by the same guy this year as last year: namely, Haohmaru.

"And now, ladies and gentlemen," Birdman said, pulling a red apple out from the sack, "I would like to award this to some of the best fighters here today."

With a black marker, he scribbled something on the side of the apple and held it up.

The apple read "For the Best Muay Thai Fighter".

"Shouldn't that be a golden apple or something?" Dan asked.

Birdman glared at him. "Thanks to the mess you and your pals made of our hotel, we're lucky that we can afford **this**."

"He stole it from my lunch box." Wanderer looked unhappy.

"Anyway," Birdman said, "it is my pleasure to award this to the best Muay Thai fighter of them all, whose skill obviously stands out among them all-"

"Thanks, buddy!" Joe Higashi pushed his way to the front. "I appreciate it."

"Excuse me?" Adon said from across the room, fresh from having his arms sewed back on. "Everyone knows **I'm** the best Muay Thai."

"You both suck!" Shura jumped over the heads of the reporters (very slowly) and landed between Birdman and Joe. "This apple deserves to go to the best, and, of course, that's me."

Bruce walked up and casually shouldered in front of Shura. "Only if I'm dead, loser."

"That can be arranged, pal."

Joe cracked his knuckles. "Both of you will be making a date with the chiropractor after **I'm** done."

Adon pushed Joe backwards. "I'll take the apple in a second, Birdman. First... I have to take out the trash."

"What the hell are you saying, scumbag?"

Just loud enough for the kickboxers to hear him, Ralf yelled, "Hey, Benimaru! Don't you use Muay Thai?"

"Of course I do, silly boy!" Benimaru yelled back. "What does that have to-"

"You want some of this, Nikkaido?" Joe demanded.

Benimaru walked to the front. "What's wrong with you, Joey? Can't we just-"

"No, we can't." Joe shoved Benimaru.

Wanderer looked at the five feuding kickboxers, then back at Birdman. "You knew this would happen, didn't you?"

"Of course." Birdman gently lobbed the apple into the middle of the gathered Muay Thais. As it flew over their heads, each one looked up and watched it float through the air.

Each one, in almost perfect unison, yelled, "IT'S MINE!" As one, they leaped into the air after it, and came down fighting. The apple rolled to a stop beyond them, safely out of range of the small-scale war that erupted over it.

Janne looked at Sagat, who had been casually leaning against the wall some distance away. "Why aren't you involved in that melee?" she said, pointing at the fierce brawl. "You do follow the Muay Thai style, do you not?"

Sagat shrugged. "Why bother trying to prove you're the best when everybody knows it?"

All the Muay Thais heard this and immediately stopped trying to get the prized apple.

"Oh, I don't need that. _You_ take it, Adon."

"Me? Why would I need an ego boost? Joe, on the other hand..."

"I'm not taking it. Let Shura have it."

"Me? Why me? You take it, Bruce!"

"No, that's fine, really... Benimaru?"

"You need it more than I do, silly boy. Take it."

"Make me!"

"Maybe I will, man!"

Joe snickered. "I can't believe you're arguing about not taking an apple."

Adon smiled. "Then _you_ can have it."

"Nuh-uh!"

"TAKE IT! TAKE THE APPLE!"

"NO, **YOU** TAKE IT!"

"EAT THIS!"

*WHAM* *POW* *OOF* *THUD* *KA-BOOM*

Sagat wandered over to the apple, long forgotten in the raging melee now heading over to one of the exit doors. He picked it up and strode back to his seat.

Janne looked at him. "Interesting tactic."

Sagat shrugged. "Not really. I don't care for the prize. But it seemed like a waste to let a perfectly good apple just sit there." And he took a huge bite.

"I don't know why they're bothering, really," King muttered to herself, sipping a martini. "Everyone knows _I'm_ the best..."

"And, now, for the last award," Birdman continued, once the brawl had quieted down, reaching into the almost-empty sack. He looked around, and saw the person he was looking for standing in the corner across from Cyclops' bed. "This fighter has proved, beyond a shadow of a doubt-" as an aside to Scott, he hissed, "-keep this animal **off** of me once I tell him what he's won-" he turned back to the cameras and smiled, "-that he is among the best of his node and of any node-"

A ragged voice screamed out from the crowd of reporters. "-yeah, and next time, I'll give you the hidin' of yer _life_, Rafale!"

"He's alive," Wanderer observed.

"Despite the best efforts of many," Austin Loomis replied idly.

Putrid pushed his way rudely to the front of the crowd, standing right in front of the cameras trained on Birdman. He looked royally thrashed. "What's goin' on?"

Birdman, for a moment, looked very, very evil. "Putrid, I've got a little deal for you."

**Room 1798, RumbleDome Hotel**

"Robert, this might have been foolish," Colossus said.

"I need to know something, Peter, and you're the only other X-Man I could reach for backup," Iceman muttered back at him. The door's lock shattered at his touch, and the two of them moved quietly into the suite.

Like most of its cousins on the same floor, the hotel room, while elegant, was damaged extensively. The sprinkler system had been on most of the night, resulting in a smell not unlike that of a very large, wet dog. The furniture was warped; the floor and carpeting made unpleasant squishing sounds underneath the two X-Men's feet. There did not appear to be anyone home.

"He's not here," Iceman said, irritably, just before the door slammed shut.

Colossus jerked upward awkwardly, like a marionette, and fastened himself to the ceiling.

"You could have knocked," Magneto said quietly. He gently levitated into the center of the room, clad in a white robe and loose-fitting pants. His hair blew free in the slight wind his magnetism was kicking up; power coalesced at the fingertips of his left hand.

"I'm not here to fight," Iceman said quietly. "Erik."

Magneto calmly took a seat. Colossus, however, remained stuck to the ceiling. "I admire your common sense; it is not a trait I have noticed in many X-Men." A glass of brandy floated across the room from the minibar to Magneto's-to Erik's-waiting hand. "What, then, did you want?"

"Why did you wake me up back there?" Iceman asked. "Why didn't you just leave me and the others to die? They were just humans, after all. Why?"

"Is that all you have to ask me?" Erik said incredulously. "The way you looked, I half expected you to try and convert me to Charles' volunteer corps...again." He sipped at his drink.

"Why?"

"It is, Robert," Magneto said, "easy for you, and for Cyclops, and for the rest of Xavier's brood, to imagine me as the villain." He looked up. "Even Logan and Storm, despite our comradeship not all that long ago, fall back into that old role almost too easily. It has never been that simple, Robert; it never will be."

"Of course it's not," Iceman retorted. "You want to take over the world-"

"What I 'want', Robert, is to save mutantkind from itself by any means necessary." Erik finished his drink in a single swallow, and rose to his feet.

"Our goals, Xavier's and mine, are not mutually exclusive." He clenched a fist. "I was, briefly, allied with Rugal to attain the samurai's soul. I am not proud of that, but the offer of that kind of power was far, far too tempting to pass up. Upon my ejection from the ring at the hands of that...boy, I found that Rugal had been all but defeated, and Demitri held the samurai's soul." Erik's eyes met Iceman's, and held them. "I would have built a utopia, Robert, should I have managed to suppress my own honor long enough to take Haohmaru's power, for my people, and protected them for millennia to come. Demitri would have taken the universe to hang on his belt. I could not let that happen, obviously, but I was detained by the security at this marvelous sporting event. By the time I reached his apartments, Sakazaki had almost done my job for me.

"We have never been enemies, Robert, despite what Logan or Scott or Ororo believe. Humans have never been my enemies, save if they should act against my people." Magneto turned away, his armor composing itself around him. His helmet floated towards him from the bedroom. "I saved you because of that." He set the helmet over his head and glanced back at Iceman. "Does that answer your question?"

"Yes," Iceman said, "it does."

"I suppose that we're still enemies."

"I don't think we have a choice in that anymore."

"Neither did I." Colossus floated slowly down from the ceiling. "Leave me now, Robe-Iceman. I leave this dimension shortly, and I have much to do beforehand."

Without another word, the two X-Men left the room, leaving Erik Magnus Lensherr to his thoughts.

"I am tired," Magneto said to the empty room behind them. "So tired."

The empty room did not answer.

**Infirmary, RumbleDome Hotel**

"And you're gonna give me King's phone number, just for this?" Putrid demanded incredulously.

"Yes, yes, of course I am. Now go over there and be polite," Birdman said, pushing Putrid across the room.

"As polite as you get, anyway," Wanderer muttered.

The room went quiet as Putrid casually crossed the infirmary, holding a final statue in his hand. "Yo! Gleam-Boy!"

The Silver Samurai turned around. "What do _you_ want?"

"Man over there says this is fer ya!" Putrid casually tossed the trophy at the Samurai, who caught it. "Congratulations."

The Samurai blinked once. "Thank you, most humbly. I am honored-" He squinted at his trophy. With a terrible yell, he yanked his katana from his sheath and cut the statue in half before turning on Putrid.

"What the hell?" Putrid said, just before the sword bit into him.

"THIS SAYS I SUCK! I DO **NOT** SUCK! I! DO! NOT! SUCK! NOT EVEN A LITTLE! NOT A PECK! NOT A JOT! NOT A SINGLE INFINITESMAL BIT! IIIIIIII DDDOOOOOOO NNNNOOOOOTTTTT SSSSUUUUUCCCCCKKKKK!" The sword rose and fell. Repeatedly.

Across the room, Wanderer winced.

"We're gonna need another Putrid," Austin muttered. "I hope he's backed up somewhere."

"And, to the Silver Samurai, one of our fifth-place contestants and the best competitor from his node," Birdman said, cringing at the beating Putrid was currently being favored with, "the 'You Don't Suck' Award. Congratulations to all of our competitors! We hope to see you all next year, when we try to top this event, at the THIRD Annual Video Rumble!" Birdman beamed.

There was a cheer from those healthy enough to do it (as well as some groaning); flashbulbs burst, corks popped, and a murmur of conversation sprung

up. As Birdman and the rest of the staff left, champagne was poured, and a healthy party started, to the obvious chagrin of the medical personnel. Chin Gentsai and Shun Di, old hands at this game, began handing out drinks they had managed to smuggle in; this included two small kegs and a full wet bar. Some fighters began crying into their beer, while others raised their mugs in celebration.

The infirmary stayed lit well into the night, long after the last of the spectators had left, well into the morning.

The multiverse was safe.

**Room 675, RumbleDome Hotel**

Kyo Kusanagi threw the last of his things into his shoulder bag, and gave his hotel room the once-over. He still felt hollowed-out inside, his bones like charcoal that could powder to ash at the first gentle pressure; only time could heal that, the result of drawing on too much of his power too fast. He remembered it from when he had been younger, just learning how to control his powers, and remembered that, back then, he had vowed to never feel like this again.

Age had a way about it of breaking one's promises, he mused, and turned to go. With his shoulder bag in his hand, he walked towards the door. On his way there, he kicked out from his hip and shattered his closet door into splinters.

"Very good," Iori Yagami said, stepping out from the wreckage. "I did not think you'd notice I was there."

"I almost didn't," Kyo replied. "Here to fight?"

"Of course not," Iori sniffed. "When I kill you, Kusanagi, it will be a fair fight. But now? You can barely stand. Although... you _are_ a holy terror against closed doors..."

Kyo opened his hotel room door and stepped into the hallway. "What did you want, Yagami?"

"Just to remind you of something." Iori stepped out next to him, past the sign on the back of the door that depicted a cloud of smoke obscured by a red circle and slash. He produced a cigarette from the pockets of his shirt, lighting it with violet flame. "I beat you, Kyo. You were more powerful then, maybe, than anyone of your bloodline, and I beat you."

"I was insane," Kyo said flatly.

"Be that as it may." Iori gestured ironically with the cigarette, and flicked ash at him. "I had you at my mercy, and I let you live. You live because of me, Kusanagi. Remember that while you train."

He turned and walked down the hallway quietly, trailing smoke behind him like a streamer, or like a cloud, covering the moon on his back. Kyo went in the opposite direction, his face dark.

Kyo did not sleep well that night.

**Room 678, RumbleDome Hotel**

"Hey, I don't need this!" Ken barked. "Those bloodsuckers never got **near** my mind!"

"Do you want to risk the node on that?" Rose asked almost sadly. "And remember, they weren't the only mind-controllers seeking Haohmaru's soul."

"*sigh* Oh, all right. But, when you don't find any ooga-booga lurking in my head, I'll be right there saying I told you so."

"I don't doubt it," the mystic mused as she went diving into what it pleased Ken Masters to call his mind. Quite frankly, she was amazed that he could live in anything that small, particularly given the size of his ego.

_Once this command takes effect, you will remember nothing specific about the future_, she told that ego, as she'd told the others before it and would tell the others after it. _Your conscious mind will not retain any information that could change the timestream unless you must recall it at an outsider's prompting. You will dream about what you learned of the future, but to your waking hours, it will be only a rumor, a vague sense of deja vu. This command will take effect during your next night's sleep in our own node._

And when they were all done, she'd have Donovan and Rasputin check _her _out, and have them help her implant the same command in her own mind. And thus, what the future held for them would still come as a surprise when it came.

**Rooftop, RumbleDome Hotel (the next afternoon)**

Ryo Sakazaki, carrying a duffel bag and wearing jeans and a leather jacket, stood on the roof, watching the Tymmobile take off with the next-to-last payload of fighters. Idly, he kicked at the loose chunks of concrete. He and Demitri really had done a fair job here; he thought of Terry telling him he might have a future in demolitions, and smiled slightly.

He was one of the last to go; he had chosen to go on the shuttle with the wounded so he could see to Takuma. Robert and Yuri had left a couple of hours ago, even though Robert had gotten moderately drunk with Dan last night and, as far as he knew, had yet to wake up. Looking out over the RumbleDome, he still found it impossible to shake the thought that the entire Rumble, the plotting, the fighting outside of the ring, had happened to someone else. It was too ridiculously surreal to think of himself as a hero, much less to think of the fight with Demitri or the run towards the roof.

Shaking his head, he turned to leave, and ran directly into Morrigan Aensland.

"I love the view from up here, don't you?" she asked conversationally, fanning herself with a copy of the Rumble's souvenir catalog. Ryo raised his fists, and she clucked her tongue at him. "Ryo, if I really wanted to fight you, I could have just thrown you off of the roof a moment ago." She smiled, her fangs peeking out from underneath her upper lip.

Relaxing, Ryo pushed his hair out of his face. "I take it your deal with Demitri is over, then?"

"Dear child, it was never really there... he just held all of the cards for a while, and it seemed best to play along." Morrigan's face was calm, but there was something in her expression that Ryo thought he recognized; it was the expression of a woman who is trying desperately to persuade herself that something very different from what actually happened, happened. "We aren't friends, and I doubt we will ever be anything but enemies..."

"Of course." Ryo smiled at her, and Morrigan scowled. "No hard feelings, then?"

"Not towards you. Your friend Robert, though, and his identical twin...that's quite another story." Morrigan's fangs flashed again in a vicious smile. "You, on the other hand, owe me a favor, if not several favors."

Ryo knew exactly what she was talking about, but asked just to be sure. "Back in Demitri's room?"

"Exactly." She was really very beautiful, in her own way... until you noticed the fangs... "Be seeing you to collect, Ryo."

"Oh, I look forward to it," he said, his voice dripping with mock sincerity.

"I thought you might." Morrigan blew him a kiss, and her wings spread. "I'll be sure to collect very soon. See you around, love." Quietly, she flew away, leaving Ryo spitting curses.

Ryo turned back to the view. He felt like throwing his suitcase off of the side, just to watch it fall; he thought, briefly, about HaohShoKohKening Morrigan out of the sky, before discarding the idea as foolish. Feeling another presence behind him, he whirled on whoever it was with a spinning kick to their face-

-as he saw who it was, he shifted his weight, trying to miss, and fell over, his balance gone, his foot passing right over Athena Asamiya's head.

"Are you all right, Ryo? If you aren't, I'd feel so bad about it because I didn't mean to startle you!" She knelt down next to him, fussing.

"I'm okay, I'm okay - wait a minute. Are you still on those..."

"No, no... I think I've given up on those medicines my government gave me." Athena shook her head. "I've been getting advice from Ms. Braddock," at Ryo's blank expression, she added, "you know, Psylocke, and she says that I shouldn't need the medications to control my powers, and I think she's right, and I haven't needed the pills for a good five hours now, and I only see things a little bit..."

Ryo got up, brushing himself off. "Good to hear it. Why haven't you left yet?"

Athena blushed. "Well... um..."

"What?" Ryo asked. A suspicion started to creep up in the back of his mind.

"Well... remember when you asked me out? Back at the beginning?"

Ryo frowned for a moment, thinking about it. "Yeah, of course I do. I'm sorry, I've been through a lot today ...but you said you wouldn't go out with me. I'm boring."

Athena looked guilty. "Ryo, I was on so much medication, I would have thought..." she trailed off, searching for a word, "...I don't know, something really exciting was boring! Like fireworks, or fighting, or whatever. What I'm trying to say is..." She flushed. "Well. Um, I don't think you're boring, and..."

Ryo looked back at her expectantly.

"...I would like to go out with you sometime!" she burst.

_That_ settled it. This was now the strangest week of Ryo's life, and it was Sunday. "That's great," Ryo managed to get out. "How about... um... dinner when we get back home?" That last was said all in a rush.

"Sure," she said. "I'd be happy to."

Ryo smiled. "Good. That's... good."

Hesitantly, he reached out his hand.

She took it.

The two of them walked towards the shuttlecrafts.

* * *

**The Sakazaki Dojo, Southtown**

Takuma pushed his students hard in the weeks after the Rumble; the King of Fighters tournament would begin again soon, and they were still in the running. Robert and Yuri complained, but got up every morning for fresh bandages and what training they could manage.

Ryo, on the other hand, pushed himself even harder than Takuma. What time that he was not eating, sleeping, or talking to Athena on the phone, he spent in the gym, honing his talents. Takuma, of course, was deliriously happy, and didn't question it at all. Robert, on the other hand, made some half-hearted jokes about how he had apparently spent too much time talking to that Ryu guy, but otherwise remained silent. He knew about the nightmares Ryo had been having most nights; Robert would usually wake up on the subsequent morning to the sound of fists against the heavy bag downstairs, and know what had happened.

One afternoon, about two months after the Rumble had finished, before the KOF tournament had started back up, they had finished their workout for the day.

Takuma had told them to keep training while he ran some errands, which, of course, meant they had about two hours' worth of prime slack time.

Ryo had been training since six that morning, and was too tired to do much else but sit in one of the chairs facing the window and look out over the city. He liked that. When he was this tired, he couldn't think about the dreams.

Robert, meanwhile, was sprawled across the couch with a bag of chips and the remote, dead to the three-dimensional world. Yuri walked in, rubbing her hair with a towel, and sat next to him. She wore an expression, Ryo noted, that, if Robert had been paying attention, would have sent him running. Yuri was up to something.

"Robert?" she asked in a little-girl voice.

Ryo grimaced. She was _really_ up to something.

"Yeah, babe?" Robert asked. He'd found an old episode of "The Green Hornet". He was at peace with the universe.

"I've been thinking."

"That's good. People should think." Robert ate another chip.

Damn it, Robert, Ryo thought, do I have to go pull the smoke alarm?

"We almost didn't make it out back there, when you were fighting Morrigan. When I saw you, I thought for a second that Mai was going to kill you... and I almost died right there." Yuri watched Robert's face intently. Robert's face did not leave the television. "I think that we've been dancing around this too long. I mean, we love each other, right?"

"Mm-hm."

"So what are we waiting for?" Yuri moved closer. "I think we should set a date for the wedding, Robert. This year. Before anything else can happen. We live dangerous lives, and I don't want to lose you before...well, before I really _had_ you, so to speak. If something should... happen... to you or to me, I want us to have what happiness we can have in the meantime. What do you think?"

"Sure." 'Green Hornet' went to commercial, and Robert changed the channel.

Yuri's eyes instantly started to fill with tears. "You really mean that, Robert? Really?"

"Of course I do," Robert said. "Do we have any more chips?"

Yuri hugged him so fiercely he pitched over the back of the couch. Kissing him in between sentences, she started chattering madly. "Oh, my god, it'll be so beautiful, Robert! I just know that this will be the greatest wedding ever. We'll make each other so happy!"

Robert started to figure out something had gone oh-so-slightly wrong. "Um, Yuri?"

"We can invite all of our friends... Mai and Andy, and King, and Terry, and that Blue Mary girl he's always hanging out with, and even that Dan guy... do you think Tym would bring him? I'll bet King would let us have the ceremony in the Cafe Illusion... that'd be nice, don't you think, all decorated?"

"Yeah, of course it would, but for what?"

"Oh, probably the reception, but maybe even the ceremony! I don't know, there are so many decisions to make, it's hard to think all at once!" Yuri sat on top of Robert and started counting on her fingers. "I'd need to get a dress, and you need a new tuxedo - that old one still smells like chlorine - Ryo, would you be the best man?"

"Of course I would," Ryo said. "I'm hurt you have to ask."

"Thanks a lot, Ryo," Robert muttered.

"Anytime, old buddy."

"I'll ask Mai and King to be my bridesmaids... that'll be so great! I'll actually get tasteful dresses and everything..." Yuri trailed off. Robert, meanwhile, started to get an increasingly wild look in his eyes as he stared up at her.

Ryo smirked as he turned back away. Everyone had known this would happen eventually. Once Robert got used to the idea, he'd be fine. Everything, finally, had gotten back to some kind of normalcy.

"...I wonder what the kids will look like?"

"KIDS?!"

So to speak.

But, Ryo thought as he looked out the window, something was still wrong. The sun began to set over Southtown, and as it grew darker outside, his mood did too. He had a feeling in his bones of something unfinished, and he had had it since his conversation with Morrigan on the roof of the hotel.

_We aren't done, are we?_ Ryo thought, looking out into the coming night. _Will we ever be?_

**Dream City, Capcom Boulevard**

"Explain to me again," Wanderer said from the back seat, "just why this is necessary?"

"It breaks down like this," Austin said amiably. The two of them were in a cab, speeding down Capcom Boulevard. Austin, who was used to how Dream City cabbies drive, was leaning back casually against the seat. Wanderer, who was not, was turning heretofore unexplored shades of green. "You've volunteered to be a commentator at next year's Rumble. The Rumble is an independent production, but it's broadcast by the MVTN. Hence, you need a contract with the MVTN, or you don't get paid. Get it?"

"I suppose." Austin noted that Wanderer kept casting nervous glances at one of his bags as the cab pulled up in front of the MVTN Offices.

The seed money to start the MultiVersal Television Network had been provided to Sean "Aphoriel/Kinsman" Givan and Mark "Terminator" Maestas by the businessmen of various nodes whom the two had persuaded to invest in the generation of a new node for the second and later Dream Tournaments. Admittedly, many of those businessmen were criminal masterminds and Bosses, such as Geese Howard and Mr. Big, but every cent they contributed came from their legitimate enterprises (for whatever _that's_ worth). The Dream Tournaments were big business now; so too was its broadcast facility. As they got out of the cab, the building towered above them until it vanished into the sky, obscured not by clouds, but by sheer distance.

"It's... big," Wanderer boggled.

"Y'know, I've noticed that myself on all sorts of occasions. They're thinking of relocating to Southtown. Come on!" He grabbed ahold of Wanderer's sleeve and yanked the newbie inside.

"Loomis, party of two," he called out to the secretary in the lobby.

"Right this way, sir."

An elevator ride later, they were in the waiting room of the Chief's office.

"PlEaSe WaIt HeRe, Mr. WiLdE," said the Gorfian robot guarding the door. "rIgHt ThIs WaY, mR. lOoMiS."

"Just grab a chair or something," Austin said. "They'll get around to you."

"Oh, joy." Wanderer looked around nervously.

"Why are you so twitchy today, anyway?"

"Nothing." Wanderer offered up a weak grin. "I'm just having flashbacks to the principal's office."

"I get that too. Just sit tight." Austin disappeared into the office of the President of the MVTN.

SO, LOOMIS, the Chief thundered from the shadows of his desk, YOU WANT TO GET THE "REAL STORY" ON THE SHENANIGANS THAT MARRED THIS RUMBLE? The door had barely closed.

"That's... the general idea, sir. I was planning to find out who was involved, on both sides, and ask them the right questions."

AND WHAT MAKES YOU THINK THEY'LL TALK TO YOU? ESPECIALLY THE VILLAINS.

"Well, the heroes will talk about it because they're heroes. The only secrets they keep are the occasional secret identity. And some of those villains have codes of honor that'll require them to remind the world they're not completely maniacal - Doom, for instance, and Magneto."

VERY WELL. YOU SEEM DETERMINED TO DO THIS, AND I HAVE NO DESIRE TO WASTE OUR TIME ATTEMPTING TO PREVENT YOU. GO. SEEK YOUR SCOOP.

"Thank you, sir. You won't regret it for at least a year."

As Austin walked back out of the Chief's offices, he noted Wanderer coming in from another room. "Did they sign you up?" he asked.

"Hm? Oh, yeah... yeah, they did."

"Good to go. Let's grab a taco."

As the two of them left the building, Wanderer swallowed hard. One of his trenchcoat pockets contained an envelope, and he was going to make damned sure that no one at the MVTN ever learned he had it...

**RumbleDome Hotel**

[The following is a transcript of a phone conversation, recorded, as is standard procedure, in the RumbleDome Infirmary two days after the conclusion of the second Ultimate Video Rumble.]

PUTRID: Hey, hold the phone fer me...now dial this in, chump. I bled for this, but it's gonna be **worth** it, damn it!

[Phone rings twice before it is picked up.]

VOICE: _Que_?  
PUTRID: Yeah, yeah, I'm lookin' fer King?  
VOICE: Oh, King! _Uno momento, por favor_.

[The phone is put on hold for about a minute before clicking on.]

VOICE: Hm?  
PUTRID: Hey, babealicious! I _know_ all you want is Big Daddy Putrid to come by an' rock your world!  
KING: Excuse me?

[The voice is that of King, from Tekken.]

PUTRID: OH MAN! I'm gonna be sick...

**RumbleDome Hotel, Meeting Room**

"...and, of course, the water damage to many rooms in the hotel. Toting all of this up, plus the recent unexpected lawsuit from Mr. Putrid claiming breach of verbal contract and mental anguish claims," Akarui said, punching buttons on his calculator, "we face damages in excess of..." His eyes widened, and he did the calculations again. Hesitantly, he named a very very large sum.

The effect on the gathered staffmembers was dramatic. Birdman went a shade of white usually reserved for milk. Wanderer's jaw dropped. Tristan, who was of a delicate constitution anyway, went suddenly boneless and hit the floor.

"What are the projected profits from this Rumble, Akarui?" Austin prompted.

"Very good, actually," Akarui said, pulling a different set of papers out. "The t-shirt concession was surprisingly low-" at this news, for some reason, Wanderer put his head on the table and covered it with his arms, "-but the souvenir stand and the food concession did brisk business, as did the ticket sales. We've managed to presell the movie rights, as well as a couple hundred thousand copies of the video cassette. Also, we've already been receiving calls asking when tickets for next year are going on sale; apparently that news story we manufactured about the 'Grudge Match' was taken as gospel. Adding all this up, we stand to make quite a lot, but it's a drop in the bucket compared to the repairs, and, dare I say, updates, that the RumbleDome will need."

Birdman got up from the table and started pacing back and forth across the room. "How much of the out-of-ring nonsense did we get on tape?"

"The security cameras were more or less completely disabled by some kind of electromagnetic interference," Akarui said. "I'm guessing we can trace that to the cyberninjas, since we haven't got any footage until after I met with them in their room early on."

"How did that crew of yours help, Austin?" Scott asked.

"'Crew'?" Birdman said, stopping and looking at Austin.

"They put a couple of spyeyes on things," Austin said. His eyes never left the copy of the Southtown Times he was reading. "Most of 'em got smashed during that firefight in Demitri's suite, but we've got more or less everything up to that point, I think, plus the helicopter footage." He folded the paper. "Great `Calvin and Hobbes' today, by the way. **Damn**, I'm going to miss it when it's-"

"You had a camera following them the _whole time_?" Birdman sounded incredulous.

"Well, not the **whole** time, but as soon as we got Doom's tape, I put a camera crew on the job. Scott's security team told us not to put the news out over the air, but they didn't say we couldn't make any recordings of it."

"That's..." Birdman's eyes lit up. "That's fantastic! We have the entire plot to destroy the Multiverse _on tape_! We could rerelease the director's cut of the videotapes... we'll make more than enough money to rebuild the whole 'Dome even **better** than before!"

Austin raised one eyebrow. "What do you mean, 'we'?"

Birdman's jaw dropped.

"I already checked; I've got full reign from the MVTN. I'm not an employee of Rumble Productions, and the tape, technically, belongs to me. I already bought off Putrid's share by paying his medical bills; I never thought anyone could take that much damage and live." Austin's face betrayed nothing. "You don't have enough cash, Birdman."

"Oh, man." Birdman groaned, burying his face in his hands. "_Where_ am I going to get the money?"

Scott Johnson grinned. "I think I can help you with that." He looked at where his security personnel were gathered. "Michiko! Candy! Over here, please!" He didn't really _raise_ his voice - Scott couldn't _shout_ at anyone if his life depended on it - but it certainly carried.

Candy sashayed over to the management crowd. "Yes? What is it _now_?"

"I need you to confirm some things for me. But first - Austin?"

Austin grinned. "Pleasure and a privilege. - Chicago, bucket!" The honorary-Guardian keytool on his wrist morphed into a large bucket of water, which he upended over Candy, then retreated to a safe distance with a speed worthy of a Brockian Ultracricket champion.

"Hmph." Candy tucked an errant wisp of hair back into place and brushed down her pinstripe suit. "Now what seems to be the problem?"

"Well," Scott pointed out, "we do have a question of certain assorted evil masterminds fighting outside the ring..."

"Ah, yes. That's a clear violation of Volume V, Chapter xii, Paragraph 9, Subsection c of Rumble bylaws, as you know." She ticked off further points on her fingers. "Invoking a major demonic power on Rumble property without notifying the duly constituted Magic Authority... Tampering with electrical systems to the ultimate detriment of mechanical fighters, that's a Disability Act violation..." Eyes began to glaze over.

"So what you're saying is," Enzo Matrix piped up, "you can nail these guys?"

"While I wouldn't phrase it nearly so crudely, on the basis of these and other actionable acts, Rumble Productions could collect quite substantial sums from the responsible parties. Not to mention damages."

"Alphanumeric!" The rest of the Mainframe contingent nodded.

**Ultratech Building, Killer Instinct Universe**

Number 27 walked down the hallway towards his office, listening idly to the status report given by his assistant. His thoughts were elsewhere.

"...the scientists say that the cloning of Orchid's new body is proceeding ahead of schedule, and they confidently expect that she will be back on her feet by later tonight. Also, the repairs to the Fulgore unit were completed this afternoon; upon activation, the unit killed several low-level technicians, but that's par for the course-"

"Have they found Jago yet?" 27 asked, his hands behind his back.

"Excuse me, sir?" His assistant blinked.

"Have. They. Found. Jago. Yet. This is not a difficult question, you brainless bimbo. Have they found Jago, or, preferably, the dead body of Jago, yes or no?"

She flipped through her notes. "Um... there's nothing in here about him being gone, sir..."

"Nothing about him being gone. Of course. That's right. Because as worrisome as him being free is, if we **ignore** it, it will **go away**." 27's voice wept sarcasm. "Get me the chief of security on the phone. I wish to know why he is not losing any sleep over this issue."

"Yessir."

His assistant scuttled behind her desk as he walked into his office. _Hmnh. Darker than I remember leaving it..._ Quietly, he poured himself a drink before walking over to his closet, and, inside it, his traveling case. _Sorry, Jago, but business is business..._ There was a small trash compactor in his office's kitchenette; forcing the ninja's soul vial into it should deal with the problem.

Popping the catch, he reached into the case, and found... nothing.

"I believe," a voice, rich with breeding, said from the other side of his office, "that you are looking for these."

A greenish light illuminated metal, then a flash of darkly-colored cloth. Blue eyes caught the light from behind a mask and reflected it, as the figure seated behind 27's desk toyed with a neat row of several soul vials, lined up in front of him. In one of the high-backed chairs 27 kept in front of his desk, a purple-haired woman in a gypsy's dress sat with her legs demurely crossed.

27's glass, forgotten, hit the floor and bounced on the carpet.

"A neat bit of work, truly," the figure mused, "blending the metaphysical into the physical with such efficiency. Had my studies led me down a darker path," the figure straightened into the light, "this might be the kind of work that I would be producing. Unfortunately for you, insect, Doom does not practice such dark arts."

The lights in the room rose softly, and 27 whipped around to see why. Behind him, Jago stood with his back to a closed office door, one hand on the dimmer switch.

Doom walked regally around the side of the desk, towards 27, arms behind his back, studying the man's face. "Why I am here is not important to you, save that I am here to address the issue of your foul studies. Souls are not such things that they can be so idly bought and sold and trafficked in, and my associates and I have come to rectify this...evil...situation."

A bit of the bargainer in 27 resurfaced. "Fine, great. We can come to some kind of agreement, easily-"

"Do not try my patience, worm. You already turn my stomach."

"Victor," Rose said calmly, "we have his soul vials. I'll need a couple of hours to restore them to their proper owners, but antagonizing him does nothing useful."

"You are," Doom said, without looking away from 27, "right, madame. The hour grows late, and this crime need not go unpunished a second longer."

27 never saw it coming.

A power blast from Doom's gauntlet struck the corporate master of Ultratech in the chest. Jago barely managed to duck before his already lifeless body crashed through the door behind them, flying out into the crowded office and bowling over a pair of Ultratech lawyers. 27 came to a rest, eyes blank and staring into space, a massive smoldering hole in his torso sizzling slightly. His assistant began screaming, a high-pitched sound like fire alarms a block away.

Rose stood from her chair, quickly, reaching out one hand as if she could somehow revoke the blast from 27's chest, her mouth open in shock. Even Jago, who was no stranger to sudden death, seemed unnerved.

Doom turned. "I shall arrange our transportation away from this dimension. Ninja, escort the lady so that you may give your comrades back their freedom. Rose, I shall rondezvous with you upon the arrival of my craft."

"Was that... necessary?" Rose whispered. "Was it?"

"Perhaps not," Doom said. "But well-deserved." He walked out of 27's office, alarms now beginning to sound throughout the Ultratech building.

By the end of the night, Ultratech had been dealt two devastating blows: the first, of course, was the death of its CEO, #27, at the hands of an unknown party. The second was the worse of the two; Jago, assisted by an unidentified woman, had managed to reach the participants in the Killer Instinct tournament, and give them back their souls.

The resulting devastation rocked the building to its very foundation.

Shortly thereafter, Ultratech security forces were unable to stop a small aircraft from taking off; a subsequent helicopter search proved fruitless, as if the craft had simply disappeared.

Of course, they did not have the time to puzzle over this. Coming back to report their failure, the helicopters found... nothing.

The Ultratech building had disappeared.

**Blacknoah Enterprises, King of Fighters Universe**

"Sir?"

"What is it, Vice?"

"There's a woman here to see you. She says she's here representing Rumble Productions. She's already beaten up the mundane security guards. Do you want to see her?"

Rugal rubbed his eyes with his organic hand. "Might as well."

Vice nodded, and a moment later showed in a woman dressed in an immaculate pinstriped suit. Without any pleasantries whatsoever, the woman opened her briefcase and threw a sheaf of papers onto Rugal's desk.

"What are these?" Rugal asked irritably.

"The documents for a very large subpoena, Mr. Blacknoah," the woman said. "I represent a suit from Rumble Productions against you, Mr. Demitri Maximov, Mr. #27, Mr. Shao Kahn, and Ms. Morrigan Aensland for breach of contract and destruction of property. However, due to the unavailability or sudden demise of the aforementioned parties, you stand as the sole defendant in this case."

Rugal found that, for the third time that week, he had broken his desk in half with his cybernetic arm. "WHAT?"

"We seek sufficient funds that we might repair the damage you and the others dealt out to our broadcast facilities and hotel. That sum is quite sizable."

Rugal knew that. It was written at the bottom of one of the documents. "Or?"

"Or, you may settle out of court. I have the full power of the Network behind me, Mr. Blacknoah. If I were to disappear, it may prove unhealthy for you and your associates." Candy adjusted her glasses and examined Rugal. "Unless you'd like to settle out of court...?"

Rugal clenched his fist in rage. '95 had been a bad year, and, he feared, it would only get worse.

**A Conference Hall in North America, Street Fighter Universe (one or two years later)**

"_Ohayou gozaimas_, Ken," Ryu bowed gravely. "_Omedetou mo_."

"Thanks, Ryu," the winner of the World Warrior Alpha Tournament acknowledged his old friend's greeting and congratulation. "Yo, Chunster! Who's your buddy with the high-top fade?"

"Col. Guile, Special Forces," the other answered in the clipped tones of a career military man. "I understand you knew a squadmate of mine. Charlie Nash."

Ken blinked. "You're Chuck's CO?" He looked down. "I'm sorry about that..."

"Not your fault, Masters. You didn't do anything. It's the man who _did_ do it that I plan to have words with."

"Bison, ne?" Chun Li piped up. "You can have him when I get through with him."

As the Green Beret and the Interpol agent began their debate over jurisdiction, Ken looked around at the others in the room.

"There's Zangief and Dhalsim. I didn't expect to see those two again. And who are _those_ two?" He indicated the new arrivals, who hadn't been in the Alpha tourney.

"This," Ryu indicated the larger figure, "is Edmond Honda, the present _yokozuna_ of Sumo. We rode from Japan on the same plane. As for the... other..." His voice trailed off, as they all stared at the green-furred creature.

"Me Blanka. Me from Brazil. Live in rainforest. Do Capoeira."

"Yeah, whatever." Ken sighed. "So, is our mystery host ready to explain why he's called us all together?"

"Yes." said the new arrival. "My name is Sean Givan. I'd like to tell you about something you might find very interesting."

He explained how their world was just one "node" in a larger Video Multiverse, and how they had been selected, due to their popularity with the people of his own node or world, to compete against fighters from two other nodes, the Mortal Kombatants and the World Heroes, to determine the champion of the Multiverse.

"After this, I'll be speaking with of Shadoloo and some of his secondaries. With luck, they'll be joining us at the tournament."

"Secondaries?"

"Sagat, Michael Balrog, and Fabio Vega la Salda."

The two Shotokan fighters nodded at the mention of Bison's name - they remembered him from the first tournament - and everyone had heard of Sagat, either from the Alpha tourney, or (in the case of Honda, Guile and Blanka) from someone who'd been in it.

"I'm looking forward to meeting Bison," Guile noted, cracking his knuckles. "We've got a lot to talk about."

"I've heard about this Vega," Chun Li added. "The so-called `Spanish ninja,' ne?"

"That's the one. When I get through with him, he'll *need* that mask he wears." The Special Forces man socked his palm grimly.

"I'm feeling... I don't know... _pumped_ about this," Chun Li said out of thin air. "Like anything's possible."

Ryu surveyed the pictures of their opponents that Kinsman had provided. "This 'Liu Kang'... he looks familiar, for some reason."

"Checked a mirror lately?" Ken grinned.

**someplace darker**

Catherine looked at her reflection in the mirror and frowned. Her hair simply wasn't right. Realizing she was frowning, she abruptly stopped; no frown lines would appear on _her_ face. The Master wouldn't like that. At all.

Suddenly, from the Master's private summoning room, she heard a loud crash. She rose to her feet quickly. If one of the other worthless sluts the Master had seen fit to rank as being her equal had been in there, Catherine would have an excuse to mete out justice immediately. The Master had said nobody was to enter without his permission except to stop an intruder.

Reaching for the door handle (it was probably Contessa who was in there, the worthless slut always closed the door behind her) she turned the ornate handle and shoved the door open.

Before her eyes she saw horror. Someone... something was trying to come in via the Master's summoning portal (Catherine knew what it was after the time the Master showed her the small imp she had selected to wipe out her home town-they had never appreciated her properly anyway). A figure, burnt beyond recognition, was clawing its way forward despite the strange nine-clawed hand grasping onto one leg like a vise. Suddenly, the figure turned its head toward her and opened its eyes with an audible cracking sound; Catherine realized its eyelids had been burnt shut.

"caaaaatherine." The husk of a voice was the Master's, barely recognizable, but Catherine knew those tones anywhere.

She quickly ran over behind the portal gate and slammed her hand down on the picture of a strange looking man dressed all in black (the Master always looked amused when she asked what it was). The gate collapsed, leaving the master and a quivering six-foot length of arm in the room.

Catherine rushed over. "Oh, my master! Are you hurt? Can I..." Catherine never got out the word "help" as fangs thrust into her neck. Her vision dimmed.

Demitri's flesh began to grow back as he drained Catherine's body of all the blood within. Suddenly, sensing the reservoir was empty, he threw the lifeless husk down and wiped his mouth with a (nonexistent) cuff. Staggering to his feet, he lurched for the door.

_Sakazaki._

"Contessa! Albrida! Gwendolyne!"

He could hear the feet of the women racing to greet him, all anxious to be first.

_We are not done yet, Sakazaki. We are never done._

"Master! Are you all right?"

_Never done._

* * *

_Original Authors_

Thomas "Wanderer" Wilde  
Christopher "Birdman" Bird  
Austin George "Yo" Loomis


End file.
